Description
Starchy pasta water, butter, and Parmesan cheese create a velvety sauce that coats crawfish and fettuccine in this simple but sensational dish.
Ingredients
- kosher salt, to taste
- 1 pound quality fettuccine, dried or fresh
- 1 cup unsalted high-fat butter (such as plugrà) (8 ounces), cut into 10 pats
- 8 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 to 2 2/3 cups packed)
- 1 pound boiled and peeled crawfish tails, fat reserved, at room temperature
- cracked black pepper, to taste
- cayenne pepper, to taste
- hot sauce (preferably the original louisiana brand hot sauce), to taste
- fresh lemon juice (optional)
- chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley and scallions, for garnish
Directions
- Place a large cast-iron skillet or heatproof platter in the oven on warm or low for 1 hour.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high. Add enough kosher salt (about 2 tablespoons) so that the water tastes as salty as the sea. Cook fettuccine according to package directions for al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
- Remove skillet or platter from oven, and immediately scatter butter over top. Add hot fettuccine, and top with Parmesan. Quickly toss together, lifting and folding the pasta using tongs and adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid until a beautiful, velvety sauce forms. Add more cooking liquid if needed to thin the sauce. Stir in crawfish, and season to taste with kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, and lemon juice (if using). Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and scallions.
