Crawfish Fettuccini in Vodka Cream Sauce
This came about after a long shopping trip to Wal-Mart on Easter Sunday
afternoon... we had originally planned on having lasagna but we
stumbled across a large freezer of seafood and it threw our plans rather
askew... we made everything up from that point - the result (below)
turned out surprisingly good.
- 12 oz Crawfish Tails (fresh preferred, but frozen work pretty well
- I found some decent ones at a Wal-Mart Superstore)
- 1 Package/Box of Fettuccini (any good brand - or your favorite
Pasta)
- 2 Cloves of Garlic (crushed or minced)
- 1 cup (or good handful) of chopped/ sliced mushrooms
- green, red, yellow bell peppers - 1/4 of each pepper (diced)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion (white or Vidalia)
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil (or however much you feel like at the time)
- 1 tsp ground Black pepper or to taste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper or to taste
- 3/4 Cup Ricotta Cheese
- 3/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 3/4 cup heavy cream( can be replaced with plain yogurt - this
might make it creamier)
- 3/4 cup of good Vodka (if you want an bit of a flavor, Lemon or
Citrus flavored Vodka adds a nice bit to the sauce)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Add Olive oil to a medium/large pan already heated to medium.
Add garlic, onions, peppers and mushrooms and sauté until the onions
begin to caramelize.
Some good additions to this also include some diced chili peppers and tomatoes,
okra, black olives -
at this point you can add a wide variety of veggies that would go well... improvising
is fun!
Add the Crawfish tails (thawed if frozen), pepper, salt, paprika,
cayenne, sugar and allow to simmer with the veggies and garlic until
cooked.
Lower the heat and add the Vodka, cover and let simmer for about 10 to 15
minutes - stir frequently - keep an eye on it while you're finishing
the rest of the ingredients and don't let it get too dry. Let it simmer
uncovered for the last minute or so - before you add the other
ingredients.
While the vodka and meat are simmering- prepare the fettuccine according
to the box or to your taste. A typical box of dried fettuccine takes
about 9 minutes to cook al Dente so get this going and let it cook while you
mix the cream sauce...
Cream sauce - mix the parmesan, Ricotta and heavy cream (or
yogurt)
together... I used a whisk to make sure it was mixed and fluffy but as long
as it's mixed well you should be fine.
When the Vodka has simmered for 10 or 15 minutes (as
stated above) add the cream sauce and blend it well with the
meat. Let this simmer on low for a few minutes (no more than 5
or so).
I'd suggest at this point adding the cooked pasta and parsley to
the sauce and mixing until the pasta and meat are covered.
Remove from the heat and serve warm. Another suggestion is to toss the
pasta and parsley with Olive Oil in a serving bowl and add the sauce on top.