Spicy Catfish with Crawfish Gravy

Spicy Catfish with Crawfish Gravy

We keep a bag of cooked frozen crawfish in our freezer. They are excellent in gravy and sauces. The hard part is peeling them but I only peel a small amount for each recipe such as this one. This is one of our favorite quick weeknight meals.

Crawfish Gravy

2 T unsalted butter

1 T shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T all-purpose flour

1 c low sodium chicken broth or more as needed

1 large Roma tomato, diced

¼ t smoked paprika

¼ t dried thyme

20 cooked crawfish tails, shells & vein removed

Salt

Pepper

In a small non-stick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the flour and cook for about 5 minutes until a nice roux has formed. Whisk in the chicken broth until smooth then add the tomatoes, smoked paprika and the thyme. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the crawfish tails and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm while you make the fish. If needed, thin with more chicken broth.

Spicy Catfish

4 medium size catfish fillets

Black pepper

Coarse salt

Dried thyme

Paprika

Cayenne pepper

3 T Olive oil

Pat the catfish fillets dry with a paper towel. Season both side with the black pepper, coarse salt, thyme, and paprika. Season both sides with the cayenne pepper to taste. In a large cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the fillets and cook for about 3 minutes per side turning once.

Plate the catfish with the crawfish gravy over hot cooked white rice.

Serves 4