Creamy Crawfish Pasta

Creamy, spicy, pasta is just something that is so good on a cold Winter's night. Or heck even a cool Spring evening. Okay, let's be honest, this dish is even amazing in the dead heat of Summer! And by using frozen crawfish tails, you can truly make this yummy dish year around for your family or even double it to feed a crowd~ inside or outside of crawfish season. 

Ingredients

4 TBS Butter (DO NOT use margarine)
1 green bell pepper diced
1 large onion chopped

1 bunch of green onions sliced (reserve about 1/4 to top before serving)

1 whole Serrano pepper chopped (seeds and all) 

1 # frozen Crawfish Tails (defrosted)
1 cap of concentrated liquid shrimp & crab boil (I use Zatarains)
1 TBS Cajun Seasoning (I like Tony's) 

2 tsp Red Pepper flakes

1- 2 cups half and half (make take more as you make it see directions below)

1 8 oz block of Cream Cheese

8 oz Pasta of your choice (I used Penne pasta) **see note below

Directions

1. In one pot start water to boil pasta.

2. In a heavy bottom skillet melt butter over medium to high heat. Add in bell pepper, onion, green onion, and serrano pepper and allow to saute until tender. Add in crawfish tails and allow the mixture to cook together for about five to seven minutes.

3. Once the veggies and crawfish have combined well add in Cajun Seasoning, liquid shrimp and crab boil, and red pepper flakes.
4. Cook pasta according to package directions.
5. Add cream cheese into crawfish mixture, stirring occasionally allowing it to melt. Once the cream cheese has melted, add in one cup of the half and half and stir well. 

6. Drain pasta well. 

7. Add in second cup of half and half and pasta and stir well.
8. At this point, you want to make sure that your sauce is not too thin or thick ~ this is a good time to also taste for additional seasoning. 

9. Top with green onions and serve with garlic bread and a side salad if you so desire. 

**If you are not a pasta fan, you can also make this sauce and serve over a bed of rice. If you do this, you may want to reduce the half and half to just the first cup. **