Red beans, Andouille and shrimp with the holy trinity of Cajun cooking come together to make this Gulf Coast riff on the classic French Cassoulet.
Ingredients
4-8 Andouille or Louisiana Hot Links
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 15oz cans Red Beans of your choice, drained -or- 1/2 pound of Red Beans prepared from dry*
1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock
1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
1 medium to large Yellow Onion, rough chopped
2-3 medium Green Bell Peppers, rough chopped. You may wish to cut one of the peppers into rings for the top of the bake as a decorative touch.
4 stalks Celery, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 pound Shrimp, medium to large, shelled and deveined
1/2 cup Pork Panko
*I cook 1/2 pound of dry red beans with 2 1/2 cups of water + 1 teaspoon of sea salt in my Instapot. Set instapot to high pressure for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Allow 20 minutes for natural pressure release.
Prepare
Preheat oven to 350.
In a blender, puree 1/2 cup of drained beans with chicken stock and tomato pasted, set aside.
Pierce sausages and brown slowly in a skillet with olive oil over medium heat. Remove sausages from pan before skins split and set aside.
Sauté onion, peppers, garlic and celery in skillet drippings over medium low heat until soft but not brown.
Stir in black pepper.
Cut heat and stir in beans.
Pour chicken stock mixture over all.
Nestle browned sausages into beans.
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
Stir together melted butter, minced garlic, cayenne and shrimp. Set aside.
Remove bean skillet from oven and set oven broiler to high.
Arrange garlic shrimp over the baked beans and sausages.
Sprinkle pork panko over all and place under the broiler for 4-6 minutes until shrimp are opaque and the crumb is brown and crisp.
Makes 4-8 servings
