Crawfish Hand Pies

The meat pie, a flaky pastry stuffed with beef, pork and seasonings, was made famous by Lasyone’s Meat Pie Restaurant in Natchitoches. It’s the city’s signature dish and even one of Louisiana’s official state foods. This version uses crawfish — our state’s official crustacean — for a briny twist on the savory classic. 

Ingredients

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• 1 (14-ounce) package empanada dough*
• 2 cups crawfish étouffée, recipe follows

Method of Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 teaspoon water until combined.
3. In another small bowl, stir together melted butter and Creole seasoning.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll each empanada dough round to make it about ½ inch larger.
5. Spoon about 2 tablespoons crawfish étouffée into the center of each dough round.
6. Brush edges with the egg mixture; fold dough over, pressing firmly to seal. Crimp edges with a fork, if desired. Place on prepared pan.
7. Brush with butter mixture, bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Serve with Creole mayonnaise, if desired.

*For testing purposes, we used Goya empanada dough.

Crawfish Étouffée Recipe

Ingredients

• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup chopped sweet onion
• ½ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup dry sherry
• 1 cup seafood stock
• 2 tablespoons extra-concentrated tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pound crawfish tail meat

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion, celery and bell pepper, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until tender, about 1 minute.
4. Add flour, stirring constantly until combined, about 2 minutes.
5. Stir in sherry, and cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
6. Add seafood stock, tomato paste, hot sauce, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
7. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Add crawfish, reduce heat and simmer about 8 minutes.

Creole Mayonnaise Recipe

Ingredients

• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Instructions

1. In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, hot sauce, Creole seasoning and vinegar.
2. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Makes 10 servings.

This recipe was provided by Louisiana Cookin' Magazine.

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