Crawfish Cheesecake

I remember when my husband took me out to this fine Italian restaurant, and we sampled some crab cheesecake as an appetizer. We were hesitant at first, but our waiter insisted that we’d love it. And, boy did we! It was so flavorful and delicious. 🙂

So, when I saw this recipe on Elizabeth’s Edible Experience, I knew I had to try it for myself!

This was a very rich dish. It would be great for an appetizer at a potluck or something similar to that. We spread the cheesecake on crackers and it was very yummy! I loved the flavor, and I hope to have the opportunity to make this again sometime soon!

Crawfish Cheesecake
Source: Chef John Folse (found on Elizabeth’s Edible Experience)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound crawfish tails, chopped
• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup sour cream
• 3 tbsps cornstarch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Tony Chachere’s seasoning
• 2 tbsps minced onions
• 2 tbsps minced celery
• 2 tbsps minced red bell pepper
• 1/3 cup sliced chives
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tbsps melted butter
• 1 egg white
• 2 cups crushed butter crackers (like Ritz)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, egg white and crackers. Press mixture into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes to crisp.
2. Remove from oven and cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F.
3. In a mixing bowl, blend cream cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, salt, seasoning, onions, celery, bell pepper and chives. Blend well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
4. Add eggs and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl again. Fold in the chopped crawfish tails. Pour the batter over the cooled crust.
5. Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for another hour without opening the door. Cool on a rack for at least 4 hours. Carefully unmold. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.