Stuffed Mirlitons with Shrimp

Mirlitons are Louisiana's best kept secret. The rest of the country calls them chayote or vegetable pear, but down here we know them as the mild, tender squash that takes on whatever flavors you give it. That's the magic of this humble vegetable. It doesn't compete with your shrimp and seasonings. It carries them.

My grandmother Evangeline made stuffed mirlitons every Thanksgiving without fail. She'd parboil them whole until a fork slid through easy, then scoop out the flesh and mix it with whatever the day's catch brought in. Sometimes it was shrimp, sometimes crabmeat, sometimes both if we'd been lucky. The filling went back into those pale green shells, got covered with buttered breadcrumbs, and baked until the whole kitchen smelled like heaven.

The technique here is simple but the layering matters. Season your shrimp before they hit the pan. Cook your trinity until the onions turn sweet and translucent. Build your breadcrumb topping with good butter and fresh herbs. Each layer adds depth, and by the time that dish comes out of the oven, you've got something that tastes like it took all day but really just took attention.

At Lagniappe, we serve these at holiday time and guests go back for seconds before they've finished their firsts. That's the kind of dish this is. Honest, generous, and impossible to eat just one.