Stuffed pistolette rolls, baked or deep fried, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and filled with a creamy shrimp or crawfish sauce.

Baked Shrimp Stuffed Pistolettes

Lawdy mercy, are those good. Remember those pistolette rolls that I made the other day? Well, I specifically set aside a couple of them so that I could make some stuffed pistolettes. And I gotta tell ya, those rolls are so darned good, it sure wasn't easy to keep any until I got around to these! When I make a batch of them they never last long. Thank goodness they are so easy to make!

Anyway, I had fully intended to do these stuffed pistolettes on Friday, but The Cajun and I were out and about running and we ended up making simple fish sandwiches that night instead, so I just got around to these today.

Stuffed pistolettes can enclose just about anything, but typically down here along the Coast it is seafood and most often, shrimp or crawfish. Both are equally delicious. By the way, this filling is also excellent over hot rice or pasta, which since I didn't have a dozen rolls left, I will be doing.

At fairs and festivals, stuffed pistolettes are most often deep fried ... what else! We are in the south after all, aren't we? Some fry the pistolette bread shell and then stuff it; others fry the whole thing after it is stuffed. Of course frying produces a very crispy crust, but I'm of the same mindset as I am with the Natchitoches Meat Pies, that those folks must have those great heavy duty professional fryers, so at home, I prefer to bake mine and believe me, they are excellent baked.

You can use store bought French rolls, or make your own pistolette rolls, and you can remove as little or as much of the inside of the bread as you like. The more you remove, the more filling you can stuff into one of course! Take care not to cut through or puncture the outside of the bread though, because if you do the filling will leak out and ruin the whole thing.

These make a great lunch item, snack item or paired with some veggies, are even great as a dinner entree. Perfect for Lent too! Here's how to make them.

First, peel, devein, rinse and drain a pound of fresh raw shrimp. Set aside.

Finely chop the onion, celery and bell pepper.

And place into a skillet with 2 tablespoons of melted butter to saute. Cook until veggies are tender.

Finely chop the green onion, garlic and parsley.

And add that to the veggie mixture and cook for just a bit longer to soften.

Add the cream of mushroom soup and Velvetta.

And the seasonings...

...1/2 a small jar of pimentos, drained, 10 turns of the pepper grinder, a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning, and a few dashes of hot sauce.

Cook and stir over medium low simmer until well incorporated and cheese has melted.

Rough chop the shrimp.

And add that to the mixture, stir in and cook over low simmer for about 10 minutes.

Time to prepare the pistolette rolls!

Cut the tips of the rolls off, taking care to keep the pieces close to each other so it will be easier to match them back up to the right partner!

Hollow out the insides of the bread as much or as little as you like, but take care not to cut through or puncture the outside crust of the bread.

Save those scraps! They are perfect for croutons, bread crumbs, or bread pudding - just stick them in a freezer bag for later.

Continue cooking and stirring the shrimp mixture. Once the shrimp begins to turn pink, remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Spoon the filling into the pistolette rolls.

Prepare a slurry of flour and water - 1 tablespoon of flour to 3 tablespoons of water.

Brush the outside edges of the stuffed bread with the slurry.

And also brush it around the edges of the bread tip.

Press the bread back together and place on a baking sheet.

Brush the tops of the bread with melted butter... ntil golden brown.

...and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve hot! Now that's some good eatin'!

Recipe: Baked Shrimp Stuffed Pistolettes

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 20 min |Cook time: 25 min |

Yield: 1 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 pound of shrimp, peeled & deveined, or package of frozen crawfish tails
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 of a medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk (rib) of celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 of a green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
• 1 can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup
• 4 ounces of Velvetta Mexican style cheese
• 1 (2 ounce) jar of pimentos, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste
• Couple dashes of hot sauce
• 12 store bought or homemade pistolette rolls
• 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons of water

Instructions

Peel and devein the shrimp. Rinse and drain; set aside.

Saute the onion, celery and bell pepper in two tablespoons of butter until softened. Add the green onion, garlic, and parsley and saute a few minutes more to soften. Add the cream of mushroom soup, Velvetta, pimentos, pepper, Cajun seasoning and hot sauce and stir together until well incorporated and cheese has melted.

Rough chop the shrimp and add to the mixture. Stir to mix in and low simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 to 15 minutes or until shrimp turns pink. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare the rolls by slicing off one tip and cutting into the roll, removing the insides of the bread. Save and freeze the excess bread for use later as croutons, bread crumbs or other dishes. Be sure to keep the tip of the bread together with the roll as your remove the end pieces so that you will be able to easily match them back up after you have stuffed the rolls. Mix up the slurry of flour and water; set aside.

Spoon the shrimp mixture into the roll, brushing the edges of the roll with the flour mixture. Brush the flour mixture on the tip of the roll also, and press them together to form the whole roll. Place on a baking sheet or freeze for later.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush over the rolls. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 1 dozen.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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©Deep South Dish

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Posted by Mary on March 8, 2009

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