Crawfish Monica is a Louisiana food tradition and a staple in Creole cuisine - often served during Louisiana festival season.
This Creole pasta dish usually calls for rotini pasta, but we put a Dagostino spin on it with crawfish shaped pasta. Of course this dish calls for rich ingredients such as crawfish tail meat, onion, garlic, creole seasoning, cream, wine, salt, pepper, and butter.
The dish's creation is credited to chef Pierre Hilzim, who named it after his wife Monica Davidson.
Parsley is often used as a garnish and a way to add color to the dish.
Seafood and Shellfish like Shrimp, crabmeat and oysters can be substituted for crawfish.
Crawfish Monica Ingredients
The ingredients in this dish can be found in many Louisiana kitchens, but if you're having a hard time finding high-quality crawfish tails feel (or if it's not crawfish season) free to sub with the protein of your choice!
- 1 lb Crawfish Tails
- 1 lb Dagostino Crawfish Pasta
- 6 Tablespoons Butter, unsalted
- 3-4 Shallots, chopped.
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp Creole seasoning (Plus more to taste).
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup dry white wine. (Use a wine you like to drink - not a cooking wine).
- 2 ½ cups heavy cream
- Zest of 1 lemon, reserve some for garnish
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 3-4 green onions, chopped. Reserve some for garnish.
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped. Reserve some for garnish.
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated. Reserve some for garnish.
Keep in mind that there are many way each chef adds their personal touch to this dish - so don't be afraid to experiment with different seasonings and ingredients!
Crawfish Monica Directions
- Cook Dagostino Crawfish Pasta per package instructions or until Al Dente. When draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, and set aside for later.
- In a large heavy bottomed pan, melt butter over a medium-high heat.
- Add the chopped shallots and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic paste and cook for 1 additional minute.
- Season the onion/garlic mixture with the creole seasoning and cayenne pepper. (If you don’t like spicy, you can omit the cayenne pepper, however, that’s what gives Crawfish Monica its signature kick.)
- Add the white wine to deglaze the pan and stir. Turn the heat to medium.
- Slowly mix in the heavy cream while constantly stirring.
- Add the lemon zest and juice while still stirring.
- Add the cooked crawfish tails and stir into the sauce. Allow to simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chopped parsley and green onions while continuing to stir.
- Add the grated parmesan cheese and stir until fully melted.
- Lastly, add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to combine. If you feel the sauce is too thick, use the pasta water saved earlier to thin out the sauce.
Garnish with green onion, parsley, parmesan cheese and lemon zest.