Crawfish Stuffed Mirlitons

 4 mirlitons 
 1 tablespoon butter 
 1 cup finely chopped onion 
 2 garlic cloves, minced 
 2 1/4 cups cooked crawfish tail meat (about 14 ounces) 
 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs 
 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 
 1 teaspoon salt 
 3/4 teaspoon hot sauce 
 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme 
 1 large egg, lightly beaten 

Pierce mirlitons with a fork.  Place in a Dutch oven; cover 
with water.  Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and 
simmer 30 minutes or until tender.  Drain and cool.  Cut 
mirlitons in half lengthwise; discard seeds.  Scoop out pulp, 
leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell.  Chop pulp; place in a large bowl. 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
Melt butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.  
Add onion and garlic; cook 7 minutes or until onion is tender.  
Add onion mixture, crawfish and remaining ingredients to chopped 
pulp; stir to combine. 
Spoon about 1/2 cup crawfish mixture into each shell; place stuffed 
mirlitons on a baking sheet.  Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until 
crawfish mixture is thoroughly heated and golden. 

==========================

Meatless Stuffed Mirlitons

4 or 5 mirlitons
8 oz tempeh
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning mix
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced onions
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons margarine
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning mix

Boil mirlitons just until fork tender. Cool, then cut each in half 
lengthwise; remove seed.  Carefully scoop pulp out with a spoon, 
leaving about a 1/4 inch shell.  Coarsely chop the pulp and reserve.

Steam tempeh, then crumble.  Add seasoning mix and sauté with olive 
oil for 2 minutes, add onions and sauté until softened, about 7 minutes.  
Turn off heat and add mirliton pulp, breadcrumbs, sour cream and margarine 
and mix well.  Spoon mixture into mirliton shells and sprinkle with parsley.  
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

================

SHRIMP STUFFED MIRLITON

Thanks to Martha Reim

Ingredients:

4 mirlitons 
1/2 cup chopped green onion 
3 stalks celery, chopped 
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion 
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped 
1/4 pound shrimp, peeled, tailed, deveined and chopped 
1 stick butter 
1/2 cup bread crumbs 
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning 
Salt and black pepper 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and 
add about a 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning. Add the mirliton, 
lower the heat and cook for 30 to 45 minutes until it is the 
consistency of a soft potato. Drain mirliton. Cut the mirliton 
in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp, leaving at least 1/4-inch 
all around. Set pulp aside. Turn upside down to let mirliton drain. 
In skillet, over medium heat, melt butter and add chopped vegetables 
until soft; about 5 to 10 minutes. Chop the mirliton pulp and add to 
skillet. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning and the shrimp 
and stir to combine. Stir in the bread crumbs and season with salt and 
pepper to taste.
Place mirliton halves into a casserole dish. Scoop shrimp mixture into 
mirliton shells and bake for 30 minutes.