Lousiana Crawfish Casserole



I have a love hate relationship with Pinterest.  I have made some really awesome stuff from there and some stuff I'd rather forget I even attempted.  My latest bomb was a condensed milk cake.  Really simple recipe, very few ingredients, but after two attempts with the same results I think I'm about ready to admit defeat.  Both cakes were edible, but definitely not worth making again.  If anyone has any tips on how to make the cake, and make it look like it does in the pictures I'm all ears. 

But, lets not talk about failures shall we, let's talk about glorious success!  Let's talk about crawfish casserole.  If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you've already heard about it and I've been asked for the recipe.  I'm not one of those cooks that jealously guards her recipes so let's get cooking. 

The main ingredient you need is crawfish tails of course.  They sell them frozen around here and hopefully where you live too.  I was lucky to have saved enough crawfish from prior boils this summer to have enough for the recipe.  I usually make gumbo with them in the winter but I think this was definitely a good use of my hoarded saved crawfish.  Now, if you're unlucky enough to live in a part of the world that does not sell crawfish tails or you for some reason don't like crawfish I believe you could easily substitute shrimp.  (If you don't like crawfish or shrimp you're obviously a weirdo, *not really, just a little humor people* and could probably substitute cooked cubed or shredded chicken.)

In case you are wondering where this came from, I give all credit to a lovely lady that goes by Brenda P. on keyingredient.com.  Link to the original recipe here.  Photo at the top is of my actual completed casserole. 

Now, onto the recipe.

Louisiana Crawfish Casserole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 pound completely thawed crawfish tails/ shrimp

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can French Onion Soup

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes & chilies (undrained)

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

1/3 cup butter melted (I only used a little less than 1/2 stick which would be 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley (or use dried but the fresh was really nice)

1 cup chopped celery (if you don't like celery in any shape, form, or fashion like my husband leave it out.   It's still really good but don't tell any Cajun's that you left out part of the Holy Trinity.  I won't be held liable for their actions.)

salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any salt there is plenty in those two cans of soup but did add pepper.)

1 cup (or less) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except cheeses and pour into a large casserole dish (I used a 13x9 Pyrex dish).  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle with an even layer of cheese and bake for another fifteen minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly and rice is done. 

This will probably serve 6 to 8 people with left overs. 

I served this with a Cesar salad and crusty bread. 

Please let me know if you make it, I think you'll like it!