Crawfish Tart

Craving seem to be marvelous things for me lately.  One night, not too long ago, I was dying for some crawfish.  Luckily, I had some in the freezer (care of my brother-in-law's dad who rocks).  Until recently, the only way crawfish was prepared at my house was in etouffee, and always with the same recipe.  I was being so unfair to crawfish!  Luckily, this day that I was craving it, I did not want our etouffee, no sirree!  I still had some puff pastry left in the fridge from our housewarming party and quickly hit on the idea of a crawfish/puff pastry tart.  I still had some mushrooms left over as well and what goes better with crawfish and mushrooms than onions?  So into the pot (well, saute pan) they all went.  But I was worried my little creation might be dry so I simply melted some butter in with it all then whisked flour into the liquids.  After explaining what I had done to hubby as we ate, he quickly pointed out that I basically made etouffee.  He's right and I'm okay with it for two reasons.  First, I just sort of made the etouffee without planning it and not at all going by the usual recipe.  Second, I put it on puff pastry, not rice.

Hubby and I both thought this was absolutely divine; he thought it would make a wonderful appetizer or party food.  We both agreed though that the long rectangular shape would have to change; the pastry is not stable enough to support the toppings so it was a bit floppy.  Doing smaller, bite-size rectangles (or other shapes) would solve this problem quite easily. 

Crawfish Tart

• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb crawfish tails, thawed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 package mushrooms (you know, the little blue cartons)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• salt and pepper  to taste

Preheat oven to 400F.  On a well-floured surface, roll puff pastry to an approximate 8 by 16 inch rectangle.  Using a sharp knife/pastry cutter/pizza cutter, score a border 1 inch in from the edges of the pastry (making a "crust") taking care not to cut all the way through the dough.  Using a fork, poke many holes in the inner rectangle (to prevent it from rising as much as the outer crust).  Brush with beaten egg. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden and beginning to puff up.  The middle might puff a bit as well, and if it looks too inflated, just give it a few more stabs with Mr. Fork.  I advise keeping an eye on the pastry as it bakes.

While the pastry is baking (and you're keeping an eye on it) heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onions, mushrooms, and garlic until they are tender.  Stir in the crawfish and let cook over medium heat for five minutes.  There will be a fair amount of liquid and this is okay.

Push the crawfish, onions, and mushrooms to the edges of the skillet, leaving the juices room to accumulate in the center.  Add the butter and let it melt.  Whisking constantly, slowly add the flour into the liquids, taking care to leave the crawfish and veggies on the sides undisturbed.  Add flour until you have a fairly thick sauce.  Now stir together everything you've taken such care to keep separate.  

Salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the crawfish mixture into the inner rectangle of the puff pastry, taking care to create an even layer.  Try to get as close to the "crust" as possible.  

Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the puff pastry has risen and is golden.