If using unseasoned, frozen crawfish tails, place the thawed tails in a colander to allow any liquid to drain; do not rinse. If using frozen tails and roasted garlic, you may wish to increase the Creole/Cajun seasoning and/or salt in this recipe. You can soften garlic by roasting it: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Cut the top quarter off of the heads of garlic. Drizzle each with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil, place on a small sheet pan and roast for about 50 minutes, or until the cloves are very soft and darkened to a caramel color. Unwrap; let cool to the touch and then squeeze out each clove into a small bowl. Discard the skins.
Garlicky Crawfish Bread
Ingredients
1 10- to 12-inch loaf (8 to 10 ounces) French bread or baguette
1 head garlic, boiled or roasted until softened (see suggestions above)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
3 cups (1 pound) crawfish tails, thawed and drained, if frozen (never rinse)
2 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
2½ cups (12 ounces) coarsely shredded provolone, divided
1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon Creole/Cajun seasoning, plus more as needed
¼ teaspoon fine salt (optional)
Directions
Position racks in the middle and upper third of the oven and preheat to 425°F.
Slice the bread in half lengthwise and open like a book. Gently remove a bit of the soft interior of the bread halves to create a roughly 1-inch trough. (You can place this soft bread you’ve removed in the oven to crisp and then crush it into bread crumbs for another use.) Place the bread halves on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
In a medium bowl, combine the softened garlic and olive oil. Brush the mixture lightly and evenly over the surface of both bread halves. The idea is to add a thin coating of garlic oil to the bread, not to soak the bread in oil — but add more oil if needed.
In the same bowl, combine the crawfish tails, scallions, 1 cup of the provolone, all of the cheddar and the Creole/Cajun seasoning, and mix until well-combined.
In a medium pot over medium heat, heat crawfish tail mixture just until the cheese has melted and coated the tails. Taste and add salt, if needed. Spoon the mixture evenly between the bread halves, gently pressing it into the bread. Sprinkle the remaining provolone over the bread, covering the surface as well as possible.
Bake on the middle oven rack for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Turn the broiler to high and transfer the pan to the upper rack; broil until the cheese starts to bubble and turn golden brown in spots, 1 to 2 minutes. Watch carefully, because the cheese can go from bubbly to burned very quickly.
Slice into desired serving sizes and sprinkle with sliced scallion, if desired.
