Mardi Gras Gumbo Dip
Ingredients
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup diced bell pepper, preferably a mixture of yellow, red and green
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1-2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
• 1/2 pound peeled, large raw shrimp, coarsely chopped*
• 8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
• 1 pound peeled and cooked crawfish tails
• 1 1/2 cups cooked Riceland long-grain rice
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced pickled okra
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more for topping
• splash Tabasco, to taste
Garnish: freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Preparation
To cook immediately, preheat oven to 400 degrees. The dip may be frozen before cooking; thaw before cooking.
- In a large nonstick skillet or a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.
- Add green onions, celery and bell pepper to butter and sauté until peppers are tender, 5-6 minutes.
- Add minced garlic to pepper mixture and stir in Creole seasoning.
- Add in chopped shrimp; cook stirring occasionally until shrimp just turns pink.
- Reduce heat to low; add in cream cheese and stir until melted.
- Remove from heat; stir in crawfish tails, rice, okra and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
- Spoon into a 2 1/2 - 3 quart casserole that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Top with additional freely grated Parmesan.
- Bake at 400 degrees 20-30 minutes until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
- Garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with garlic crostini or garlic bread.
*Any combination of 1 1/2 pounds shrimp or crawfish may be used.
Laissez les bon temps roulez!