“Crawfish Lasagna may not sound as good as it actually is. However, the flavors that come together with this dish are unlike anything. You have lasagna noodles baked with succulent crawfish, a creamy Cajun-style sauce, and layers of cheese. In the mix is chopped mushrooms to give a nice filling in the middle. This is one of those dishes where you have to be careful. You can hurt yourself eating too much. Crawfish Lasagna goes over very well with friends and family. Often, people leave saying, “Can I please have the recipe!?” You’re not gonna want to sleep on this one. Although, after having it, you’ll certainly need a nap.” – Jason Derouen, The Cajun Ninja
Crawfish Lasagna
Author: Jason Derouen, The Cajun Ninja
Makes 8 Servings
Ingredients
- ½ stick salted butter
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 (8-ounce) package fresh cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 2 pounds crawfish tails
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ tablespoon Pi-YAHHHHH!!
- Seasoning, plus more for garnish
- Salt, to taste
- 1 (16-ounce) package lasagna noodles
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 (10.5-ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tablespoon dried basil
- 1 (8-ounce) block jalapeño Havarti cheese, shredded
- 1 (8-ounce) block mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Start out by heating a large pan over a medium-low heat. Melt the butter in the large pan. Once the butter has completely melted, drop in the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Let sauté for roughly 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped mushrooms, and sauté for another 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and sauté for another 10 minutes. Add the crawfish tails, minced garlic, and the Pi-YAHHHHH!! Seasoning. Sauté for 10 minutes.
- At this time, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water has been brought to a boil, season the water with salt, and add the lasagna noodles; cook for 9 minutes. Drain, reserving some of the pasta water. (If the pasta tends to bind together, the pasta water can help break it apart while maintaining good pasta starch.)
- Add the cream cheese to the crawfish mixture, and blend until completely melted. Add the Parmesan, and blend evenly. Turn the heat off, and let stand.
- In a large bowl, combine the soup, parsley, and basil.
- Preheat your oven to 350°. Spray the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In the pan with crawfish mixture, move the mixture to one side of the pan. Lean the pan so that the liquid sauce moves to the other side of the pan. Use this sauce to layer the bottom of the baking dish. Add one-third of lasagna noodles. Add one-third of the soup mixture. Add one-third of the crawfish mixture. Add one-third of Havarti and mozzarella. Starting with noodles, repeat layers twice.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until inner sides of dish are bubbling. Let cool for 10 minutes. Garnish with seasoning, if desired, and enjoy!
I haven’t made this yet, but I found this recipe while desperately searching for something as close as I could find to my sister-in-law’s famous Crawfish Lasagna. She lives states away and we have only been able to enjoy it once a year. So I couldn’t be happier, because this looks exactly like hers!!! I’m super excited and will be making it this week for my family.
If you have never had this before, I highly, highly suggest it. Even my picky 5 & 11 yr old kiddos devoured their plates and eagerly asked for seconds. **I’m not sure if she used the jalapeno Havarti, so not sure of the spice level for younger kids. But of course, if you are in Louisiana, I’m sure your kiddos could handle it 🙂