Pat's Shrimp Creole
Submitted by eamslm
Pat’s Shrimp Creole with a two-stage sauce: the first vegetables simmer into the tomato base for 45 minutes then get strained out, and fresh aromatics with brown sugar finish the dish. Serves 8 over rice.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsThis shrimp creole has a move that most home cooks skip but shouldn’t: the first round of the Holy Trinity simmers into the tomato base for 45 minutes, then gets strained out and discarded.
What you’re left with is a refined, deeply flavored tomato sauce without any chunky vegetable texture. That sauce becomes the base for the second round: fresh onion caramelized with brown sugar, then new celery and bell pepper, then the strained sauce simmered together for 10 more minutes before 60 large shrimp go in just long enough to cook through.
The brown sugar in the second stage is subtle but important. It rounds out the tomato’s acid without making anything taste sweet, and it’s what helps the fresh onion go properly golden rather than just soft.
Serve over rice or jambalaya, immediately. Shrimp don’t wait.
Chef Tips
- Don’t rush the 45-minute simmer on the first sauce. That time extracts all the flavor from the vegetables before they’re strained away.
- Add shrimp at the very end and watch them closely. They’re done the moment they turn pink and opaque all the way through.
- Seafood stock deepens the sauce considerably. Fish stock or even clam juice work well as substitutes.
Ingredients
Directions
Melt 6 tablespoons butter in 3 quart saucepan over medium heat.
Add onion, celery and pepper and sauté 10 minutes.
Add tomato purée, tomatoes, bay leaves, oregano, thyme and seafood seasoning to taste and cook an additional 10 minutes.
Stir in stock and bring to boil. reduce heat and simmer until sauce begins to thicken, about 45 minutes.
Remove from heat and strain; discard vegetables.
Melt remaining butter in large sauté pan over medium heat.
Add onion, sprinkle wit sugar and sauté until golden brown.
Add celery and pepper and sauté an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
Reduce heat, stir in reserved sauce and simmer gently 10 minutes.
Add shrimp and cook just until heated through.
Serve immediately over rice or jambalaya.
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