Spicy Crawfish Bake

To prepare the dish, first preheat your oven's broiler to its highest temperature setting. Place the oven rack approximately 6 inches away from the heat source for optimal results. Next, lightly coat a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray to prevent food from sticking.

In a saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and shallots to the saucepan, stirring constantly until they have softened and turned translucent, roughly 5 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a rolling boil over high heat, ensuring it reaches its boiling point. Reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer until the chicken stock has reduced by half, approximately 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the saucepan and whisk in the Dijon mustard, horseradish, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper. Continue to simmer the mixture over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is cooking, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a separate skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and green onions to the skillet, stirring constantly until the aroma of the garlic has mellowed, roughly 5 minutes. Add the crawfish tails to the skillet and cook until they are hot through, stirring occasionally. Combine the cooked crawfish mixture with the sauce by stirring it in along with the Parmesan cheese.

Transfer the crawfish and sauce mixture to the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle a layer of bread crumbs over the top, covering it evenly.

Place the casserole dish under the preheated broiler and cook until the bread crumbs are golden brown, flipping occasionally to ensure even browning. Remove from the oven and let it stand for a few minutes before serving.