“STUFF ME WITH CRAWFISH” –
CREOLE CRAWFISH-STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Prep Time: 1 Hour
Yields: 12–14 Servings

Comment:
Elise Armand, from Houma, Louisiana, submitted this recipe for Stirrin’ It Up: Kids Edition. She entered this recipe into the Terrebonne Parish 4-H Seafood Cookery in 2006 and was the grand champion in the crawfish category. Elise attends St. Bernadette Catholic School.

Ingredients:
2 pounds crawfish tails
12–14 bell peppers, assorted colors
1 gallon water
4 slices bread
¼ pound butter
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel® tomatoes
1 (10-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup water
2 cups cooked rice
¼ cup chopped parsley
basil to taste
salt and black pepper to taste
granulated garlic to taste
½ cup bread crumbs

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the top and scoop out the seeds from whole bell peppers, discarding insides. In a heavy-bottomed stockpot, bring 1 gallon lightly salted water to a boil.  Place bell peppers into the boiling water and cook 5–7 minutes, be careful not to overcook. Check for tenderness. Drain and set aside in refrigerator while completing the rest of the recipe. In a medium bowl, add 4 slices of bread and enough water to cover the bread, set aside and let soak 10 minutes. In a sauté pan, melt butter over medium-high heat and add onion, minced garlic, celery and diced green bell pepper. Sauté vegetables until wilted, 2–4 minutes.  Add crawfish and tomatoes and cook 10 minutes. Add cream of mushroom soup and ¼ cup water then cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the bowl of water and squeeze the water from it. Once most of the water is removed add bread to the crawfish mixture along with cooked rice and parsley, stirring constantly to mix.  Season to taste with basil, salt, black pepper and granulated garlic. Align the reserved bell peppers onto a baking sheet. Spoon the mixture into the bell peppers until all of the mixture is used.  Sprinkle the bell peppers with bread crumbs and bake 20–25 minutes or until the bread crumbs begin to brown. NOTE: You may top the stuffed bell peppers with your favorite prepared marinara sauce or diluted cream of shrimp soup.