Crawfish and Roasted Butternut Squash Soufflé
2 Large Butternut Squash
1lb Crawfish Tails
1 Yellow Onion, Chopped
1 Golden Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped
2 tbsp Garlic, minced
2 tbsp Ginger, minced
1 tsp Dry, Spicy Mustard (heaping)
1 tbsp Tumeric
1 tbsp Dried Thyme
¼ c Dry Vermouth
¼ c Amontillado Sherry
6 oz Panko Bread Crumbs, by weight
¾ lb Oaxaca Cheese, grated
½ c Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Canola Oil
1 tbsp Double Acting Baking Powder
1 pint Heavy Cream
3 Eggs
2 tsps Salt
2 tsps Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Set your oven to 350F. Cut the Butternut Squash in half, remove the seeds and oil the fleshy part, then place them, oiled side down, on a baking dish. Bake the Squash in your oven for about 45-50 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the flesh. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
In a large sauté pan heat the Olive Oil over medium heat. Add the Onions and sauté until they begin to color being mindful that they don’t burn. This should take about 15 minutes or so. Add in the Garlic, Ginger, Yellow and Red Bell Peppers and toss to combine. Allow the mixture to cook until it becomes fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add in the Turmeric, Thyme and Dry Mustard. Stir and allow to cook for about a minute then add in the Dry Vermouth and Sherry and reduce the heat. Let the whole combination simmer until most of the moisture has evaporated, stir from time to time. Add in the Crawfish Tails and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring as the mood strikes you. Pour the vegetable, crawfish and spice mixture into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool in the refrigerator.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the Cream and Eggs. After they are thoroughly combined, whisk in the Baking Powder and set aside. Remove the vegetable mixture from the refrigerator and fold in about 2/3rds of the grated Oaxaca Cheese. Scoop the meat of the Squash out of their skins and into the large mixing bowl that now contains the vegetables, crawfish and cheese mixture. Add 2/3rds of the Panko Bread Crumbs, Salt and Pepper and stir to combine. Provided that the whole mixture is relatively cool, pour in the cream, eggs and baking powder mixture and fold it all together.
Using the remaining Canola Oil, grease a suitably sized baking dish and then pour the whole mixture into the dish, distributing the mixture evenly with a spatula. Top the combined mixture with the remaining Oaxaca Cheese as well as the Parmesan Cheese then top with a layer of the remaining Panko Bread Crumbs. Raise the temperature of your oven to 375F and once it has come to temperature place the dish inside and bake for about 45 minutes or until it has risen and browned.
If you want to go with a more convention soufflé presentation, you can put the mixture in individual ramekins where the smaller surface area will allow for a more notable rise than with the large dish. Keep in mind that the soufflé will fall somewhat as the temperature drops once it is removed from the oven. But, the dish should maintain some of its structure because the breadcrumbs and eggs should help the soufflé to retain some of its form.