When I was a little girl I remember my Grannie making stuffed mirlitons. I was such a picky eater as a child that I never actually tasted her mirlitons. When I was younger I rarely ate vegetables and stayed far away from things that were green. It seems so ridiculous now that I know how delicious most green things are and how much I love vegetables. The saddest part is that my Grannie is no longer with us and I missed my opportunity to taste her stuffed mirlitons - I am sure they were divine as she was an amazing cook. When I came across this recipe in Cooking Light I immediately added it to my weekly menu. I had to create this dish since I missed it during my childhood.Crawfish-Stuffed
Cooking Light April 2002
Ingredients
4 mirlitons (a.k.a. squash chayote)
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 cups cooked crawfish tail meat (about 14 ounces)
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Pierce mirlitons with a fork.
Place in a Dutch oven; cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool. Cut mirlitons in half lengthwise; discard seeds. Scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Chop pulp; place in a large bowl.Preheat oven to 375°.
Melt butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 6 minutes or until onion is tender. Add onion mixture, crawfish, and remaining ingredients (I added 1/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese to the mixture for extra flavor)
to chopped pulp;
stir to combine.
Spoon about 1/2 cup crawfish mixture into each shell; place stuffed mirlitons on a baking sheet.
Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until crawfish mixture is thoroughly heated and golden.
8 servings (serving size: 1 mirliton half)
This recipe was just as delicious as I had imagined. Next time I make this dish I would boil the mirlitons for longer than 30 minutes in order to soften the innards more. Even thought this was a dish from my past it was great to cook because I had never had it before so the element of surprise was there.
