Crawfish Fettuccine

This is a slight variation from my friend Dawn's recipe; the changes came about because I didn't have all of the necessary ingredients. I also only used 1 pound of crawfish tails instead of 2 pounds. Her original, Creamy Crawfish Pasta, appeared in the December 2003 issue of Southern Living; find it on myrecipes.com. This decadent pasta dish appears to be fancy and complicated, but it's actually very simple and will be on the table in 30 minutes or less. (Shrimp would be a good substitute for the crawfish.)

Crawfish Fettuccine
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pint whipping cream or half-and-half (I wouldn't substitute fat-free half-and-half.)
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 (1-lb.) package frozen crawfish tails, thawed, rinsed, and thoroughly drained
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. dried parsley (Fresh chopped parsley would be a nice addition.)
8 oz. fettuccine or linguine, cooked

1. Melt butter in a Dutch oven; stir in flour, and cook until butter and flour are combined. Add in onion and next 3 ingredients; cook until vegetables are tender. Stir in cream and next 3 ingredients. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in salt, pepper, and parsley. Stir in pasta.