Makes 5 to 8 whole rolls. 10 to 16 half rolls when cut in half
YouTube instructional video is at the bottom
What you’ll need
Crawfish tails (1 pound)
All Purpose flour
Baking powder
Lard (Room temp or Cold)
Vegetable or canola oil
Large eggs (Room temp or cold)
Mozzarella Cheese
Monterrey Jack cheese
Parmesan Romano cheese
Mayonnaise
Worecestershire sauce
Sugar
Seasonings
Salt
Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning
Zatarain’s crab boil
Chef Paul’s Seafood magic
Onion powder
Paprika
1 yellow onion
Green onion
Green Bell pepper
Garlic
Fresh parsley
Tools you’ll need
Cheese Shredder
Food processor
Rolling pin
Cooling rack
Preparation of ingredients
Step 1- Chop 1/2 of a yellow onion, Green onions including the ends, 1/2 of a green bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic until minced, and 1 small amount of parsley until coarse crumbs. Make sure you rinse the bell pepper and parsley and remove stem from bell pepper before chopping.
Shredding Cheeses
Step 2- Shred 4 to 8 ounces Mozzarella and Monterrey jack cheese. Once done place shredded cheeses in fridge.
Making Crawfish filling
Preheat fire to medium high heat
Step 3- Add 3 tablespoons salted butter, 1/3 cup chopped yellow onion, 1/4 cup chopped green onion, 1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper and 1 tablespoon chopped garlic into large sauce pan. Let saute for 6 minutes stirring occasionally. Add crawfish tails, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Zatarains crab boil, 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon Chef Paul’s Seafood magic, and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley. Stir all ingredients and let saute for 2 minutes. Once done turn fire off and let filling cool completely. This will take about an hour or so and filling will thicken as it cools.
Making the sauce
Note- This is a small amount of sauce and the ingredients can be doubled or tripled to serve more people.
Step 4- 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Zatarain’s creole mustard, 1 teaspoons worecestershire sauce, 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, 1/8 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder and 1 to 2 teaspoons water. Stir with whisk until combined and set aside.
Making the crust
Notes- After rolling and cutting the dough, each square piece of thin dough should be 8 inches length by 5 1/2 inches wide. The egg is added to strengthen the dough. Rolling the dough thin will make the crust, bubbly, airy, fluffy and flaky. No need to worry about the dough tearing but you must be very careful with handling of the thin dough. Once you cut the dough you will notice that you will have 4 corners that are uneven and are not square like the other 4 pieces of dough. You can take those for corners and combine them together, roll them out on your table until thin and cut them out 5 1/2 Width by 8 length. You should get about 2 to 3 pieces.
Step 5- Add 2 cups All purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons Salted butter (Cold) and 3 tablespoons lard (Room temp or Cold) into a food processor. Pulse with food processor for 1 to 2 minutes or until the lard and butter is cut into the flour. Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
Step 6- Transfer Flour mixture into a large bowl and add 1 large egg (Room temp or cold) and 1/3 cup cold water. Stir with large spoon until mixture forms a dough. Bring dough together with your hands until combined. This will take a few minutes. At first the dough won’t appear to come together but give it time and be patient. Once done let dough rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 7- Lightly flour surface of table and add dough on top of table. Press dough down with your hands forming a flat oval shape. Lightly sprinkle flour onto the dough and onto the rolling in and roll the dough out into a 25 Length by 17 inch wide rectangle. Cut the dough into 5 1/2 inch thick strips cutting length wise and 8 inches going vertically.
Preheating oil and assembling the Rolls
Preheat fire to medium high heat.
Preheat deep fryer to 350 degrees. (If you have a deep fryer)
Notes- Use your judgmental skills in determining when you want to assemble the rolls. You can assemble the rolls ahead of time then heat the oil. Make sure you have a cooling rack with pan underneath it ready to place the rolls on once they are fried. Avoid over filling the rolls and add little as possible. Use your judgmental skills in determining how much to add. Reserve a small amount of flour and water. This will help seal the dough.
Step 8- Add 48 fluid ounces vegetable or canola oil into a medium sized pot and let it get hot for 15 minutes or until temperature of oil reaches 350 degrees F. If you are using a deep fryer, add amount of Vegetable or canola oil according to your deep fryers instructional manual then let get hot until temperature of the oil reaches 350 degrees F.
Step 9- Roll each piece of thin square dough with rolling pin. This is to make sure dough is thin. Add Shredded Mozzarella, Monterrey jack and Parmesan and Romano cheese, followed by the crawfish filling into the center of the dough going length wise. Picture of demonstration is below is an example. Avoid over filling and add little as possible.
Step 10- Apply a very small amount of water and lightly sprinkle flour on to the edges of the dough. From there flip the roll onto the opposite side and press and seal dough with your fingers. Next apply a very small amount of water and lightly sprinkle flour on to the edges of the dough. Once done take edges and fold them onto the roll itself and press down gently with your fingers to seal. Picture demonstration is below.
Step 11- Add 1 roll at a time into the hot oil. You can add 2 at a time if you like. Let rolls fry to 3 minutes of each side. Rolls will puff up and expand to during the frying process. Once done remove rolls from the hot oil and place onto a cooling rack. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Notes- To serve gently cut the roll in half down the middle on a slant using a bread knife. Place them on to serving dish and serve hot. If you want to rewarm the rolls preheat oven to 350 degrees or add them into an air fryer on 350 degrees. Heat or Air fry the rolls for 10 to 15 minutes. Also the rolls will taste better the next day as the flavors will settle and increase overnight.
YouTube Instructional video
