Crawfish Etouffee

I made this last week and dear lord it was good!  The bright full flavors were surprising and very welcomed by my whole family!!

Recipe

      4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup butter, divided

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)

Cooking spray

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2/3 cup diced celery

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon salt-free Cajun seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided

1 pound crawfish (tail meat) precooked, thawed if frozen

4 cups hot cooked long-grain rice

Combine the following ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to simmer.  Cover and remove from heat.

4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 bay leaf

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Add the flour to the pan with butter in it & cook 8 minutes or until it’s very brown, stirring constantly with a whisk. *be very careful that it does not burn! Being very brown and burnt are two different things.*

Remove from heat. Add 1 cup of the broth mixture to the pan - stirring with a whisk until its smooth.

Add the remaining 3 cups of the broth mixture - stirring with a whisk until smooth; set aside.

Melt the remaining butter in a large Dutch oven (coated with cooking spray) over medium-high heat.

 Add the following ingredients to the dutch oven and cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and onion is golden brown, stirring occasionally

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2/3 cup diced celery

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

Stir in 3/4 cup water, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add the tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, garlic, salt, black pepper, and red pepper to onion mixture - cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the broth-flour mixture and Worcestershire sauce to pan, stirring well to combine; bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 Add green onions, 1/4 cup parsley, and crawfish; cook 3 minutes or until crawfish is heated thoroughly. Discard bay leaf.

 Serve over rice and sprinkle each serving with the 2 teaspoons of remaining parsley

Makes 6 servings (2/3 c rice and 1 1/2 c etouffee)