Crawfish Etouffée - Lite Version

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. In medium saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic (optional) in the butter until onions have wilted, about 5-7 minutes. Add the Rotel tomatoes and stir until tomatoes are heated through, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the cans of cream of mushroom and cream of celery. Stir and then add enough water to dilute the mixture to form a thick gravy (remember, your crawfish or shrimp will give off water in the final steps of the cooking). Start with about 1-1/2 cups water and add more if needed.
3. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook until mixture is heated through and begins to simmer gently, about 5-8 minutes, stirring as needed to prevent scorching. Add black pepper if desired. Note that the soup provides enough salt for this dish, so go easy on the salt if you decide to use it.
4. Rinse the crawfish in a colander to remove the crawfish fat that they’re packed in. Drain well. Add crawfish to the mixture along with the parsley and green onions. Cook no more than 10 minutes (overcooking makes seafood rubbery). In the last couple of minutes of cooking, add the ketchup (mainly for coloring but it does give a nice taste to your dish). Serve over rice.