What is a pistolette?

A pistolette is a small, football-shaped roll with crispiness on the outside and softness on the inside after baking, much like a petite French bread. It is used in Cajun cuisine by hollowing out the inside, then stuffing it with a creamy, savory filling, usually with shrimp or crawfish, and then baked or fried.

What is a Cajun pistolette?

A Cajun pistolette is a small bread roll used in Cajun cuisine. It is hollowed out and then stuffed with a creamy, savory filling, usually with shrimp or crawfish, then baked or fried.

What is the difference between a beignet and a pistolette?

A beignet is a Louisiana sweet treat: a fried piece of yeast dough dusted with powdered sugar, much like a French donut. A pistolette is stuffed with a savory cream filled with crawfish or shrimp, then fried or baked for a crispy outside and creamy seafood filling. Serve as a meal, appetizer, or savory snack.

Crawfish Pistolettes Recipe: Baked Cheesy Cajun Rolls • Louisiana Woman Blog

Name: Crawfish Pistolettes Recipe: Baked Cheesy Cajun Rolls
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Cajun
Ingredients: 1/4 cup flour; 1/4 cup water; 6 tablespoons of salted butter; 1 cup of chopped onion; 1/4 cup of chopped green pepper; 1/4 cup chopped celery; 2 cloves pressed garlic, or minced; 1/4 cup cornstarch; 1 pound peeled and cleaned crawfish tails; 1 cup half-and-half; 1/2 cup water; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon, or more, red cayenne pepper; 4 ounces pasteurized processed cheese, cut into small chunks for easy melting; 12 pistolettes, small French bread loaves

Description

Baked crispy crawfish Pistolettes are a Cajun dish made by stuffing a small French bread roll with spicy crawfish in a luscious, cheesy sauce.

Ingredients

Units Scale

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup water
6 tablespoons of salted butter
1 cup of chopped onion
1/4 cup of chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped celery
2 cloves pressed garlic, or minced
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 pound peeled and cleaned crawfish tails
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon, or more, red cayenne pepper
4 ounces pasteurized processed cheese, cut into small chunks for easy melting
12 pistolettes, small French bread loaves

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Instructions

Make a glue by adding the flour to the cold water, stirring until smooth, and set aside.
Take the pistolettes and cut one inch off the end. Set the end aside, then use your fingers or a fork to remove the bread, hollowing out the inside of the roll. Like a crawfish hole! (Reserve the bread crumbs for another recipe.)
Melt the butter in a large, thick pot. A Dutch oven works well.
Add the onions, green pepper, and celery to the butter in the pot and sauté the Cajun trinity over medium heat, stirring continually for about 10 minutes; do not brown.
Add the garlic and stir for about 1 minute.
Stir in the cornstarch to thicken the stuffing.
Add the crawfish and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour in the half-and-half and the water, and stir together.
Season the crawfish mixture with the salt and red pepper.
Stir in the cheese and cook over medium-low heat until it has melted into the sauce.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Fill each roll with the cheesy crawfish sauce (in the crawfish hole), then paste the glue on the end of the bread and secure it to the open end of the stuffed pistolette.
Place rolls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Serve hot.

Equipment

Dutch Oven

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Notes

Be careful not to tear the outside of the roll by removing too much of the bread inside, or the filling will leak out.
Cook the garlic after the onions, bell pepper, and celery are cooked for 1 minute; garlic tends to burn on high heat.