Spicy crawfish in a rich and creamy butter and cream sauce, doused generously with Cajun seasoning, and tossed with rotini pasta.
Crawfish Monica
This is my copycat recipe for Crawfish Monica, a spicy, rich and creamy crawfish and pasta dish, extremely popular and once found only at a booth at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - a long running music event held in New Orleans.
With multiple stages of soul-stirring music, from jazz, to gospel, to Cajun and zydeco, rock, funk, blues, Caribbean and so much more, and more southern, Cajun, Creole and international foods than you can shake a baton at y'all. If you've never been, you really should put it on your bucket list for sure. Check it out here.
Crawfish Monica created by Chef Pierre Hilzim, and named after his wife, Monica Davidson, was once only available on the Jazz Fest grounds during the two (extended) weekend festival. Now the original can be purchased at my favorite grocery store, Rouse's Market, here in Mississippi as well as in stores primarily in Louisiana.
Crawfish Monica now also has two other sister dishes now - Monica’s Herbed Shrimp Alfredo & Pasta and Monica’s Sauce with Chicken, Andouille, Tasso & Pasta! Delish. Don't fret if it hasn't made it's way near you. Check out Cajun stores across the net to order some for your next party or you can make a pretty darned good substitute with this recipe.
I personally think there are 3 secrets to making this dish the best.
FIRST: Use freshly boiled crawfish whenever possible, or else use packaged Louisiana crawfish. Do not use foreign imported crawfish period, because, in my opinion they are inferior to local crawfish, they taste horrible and not worthy of this dish. If you have no choice but to use imports, rinse them well, and I mean well, before adding them.
SECOND: Use loads of garlic - I use about 5 cloves here, but some recipes call for as much as 10 cloves!
AND LAST: Add as much heat with the Cajun seasoning as you think you can handle. This pasta dish can actually take a bit more than you'd expect - I used a tablespoon here, but I've seen other recipes that use 2 tablespoons.
My advice on that is, just take care not to overdo it - there is nothing worse than a dish that has far too much cayenne in it so that you can't taste anything but your tongue on fire from the red pepper! Start slow, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon, taste, add a little more, taste, add and taste, until it tastes right.
Then when it's all combined in the end, taste again and adjust as needed.
Here's what you'll need to make my version of Crawfish Monica:
- 1-pound dry rotini pasta
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 5 medium cloves garlic, finely minced, or to taste
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons of Creole or Cajun seasoning, or to taste
- 1 pound fresh, cooked or frozen Louisiana crawfish tails, undrained
- Sprinkle of parsley, optional
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Rinse and drain well; set aside.
Melt the butter and sauté the garlic for about 2 minutes; add the sliced green onion and cook another 2 minutes.
Stir in the half and half and the Creole or Cajun seasoning, starting with 1/2 teaspoon, taste and continue adding seasoning and taste, to reach desired level of heat.
Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes
Crawfish Monica is traditionally made with plain rotini pasta, but you could substitute another pasta if you like. On occasion, I've also used a combination of tri-color rotini with regular if that's what's in the pantry to use up!
I also used frozen Louisiana crawfish tails from my freezer. At the very least, make sure it's a product of this country and preferably Louisiana.
Check for that "Certified Cajun" stamp!
Add the crawfish, along with the fat, and cook another 5 to 10 minutes or until nicely thickened and heated through. Shrimp, crabmeat and even oysters may also be substituted, if you don't happen to be a fan of crawfish.
Stir in the pasta and parsley, taste, add salt, pepper and additional Cajun seasoning as needed.
Serve immediately or can hold over very low heat another 10 minutes, if necessary, stirring occasionally.
Serve with fresh hot French bread.
For more of my favorite seafood recipes, check out the collection on my Pinterest page!
If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!
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