This recipe can be made the day before and reheated as long you do not add the shrimp until you are ready to serve it!  While this shrimp creole is usually served with rice, it is also delicious served with a pasta, such as linguine or fettucini.

Servings:  4 regular servings or 6 smaller servings

Ingredients

1 lb. uncooked shrimp (26 to 30 per pound), peeled and deveined
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
8 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt plus 1/2 tsp. for the rice
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley plus more for garnish, chopped
2 cans (28 oz.) tomatoes, preferably San Marzano whole tomatoes
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning, more if you like it spicy (For the FoodieOasis Cajun seasoning recipe, click here, or you can purchase Cajun seasoning on the spice aisle.)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. flour
2-3 cups cooked rice (cook extra rice if you want to be sure to enough rice to serve 6 instead of 4 people)

Instructions

  • Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven.  Then add the onion, green pepper, and celery.  Sauté them over medium low to medium heat until they are tender but not browned.
  • Cut a small square of cheesecloth.  Place the whole cloves on the cheesecloth to form a small bundle and secure the bundle with kitchen string.  This makes it easy to remove the cloves later.
  • Add the tomatoes, including the juice.  Using a potato masher, break the tomatoes into small pieces.
  • Add the bundle of cloves, the bay leaves, parsley, sugar, salt, and the Cajun seasoning.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil.  Then turn it down to a simmer.  Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 to 50 minutes.  It will get thick as it simmers.
  • Remove the bundle of cloves and the two bay leaves.  Discard them.
  • In a small bowl, mix the flour with two to three tablespoons of water.  Stir the flour mixture into the tomato mixture.  Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.  This will thicken the mixture a little more.
  • Start cooking the rice 25-30 minutes before you are ready to serve the Shrimp Creole, following the package directions.  For regular white rice, the instructions usually call for two cups of water for every cup of uncooked rice.  If you want fluffy rice, rinse the rice with water before cooking it.  Skip the rinsing step if you prefer stickier rice.  Bring the water to a boil, then add the rice and 1/2 tsp. salt.  When the rice returns to a boil, turn it down to simmer and cover it with a tightly fitting lid.  Let the rice cook for 20 minutes.  Do not remove the lid.  Then let the rice rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
  • The last step before serving is to add the shrimp and let it cook for no more than 2 minutes.  If you use smaller shrimp, they will cook even faster.  The shrimp will keep cooking after you remove the creole from the heat because the creole is so warm, so be very careful not to overcook the shrimp.  Rubbery shrimp is not good!
  • Place about 1/2 a cup of cooked rice on each plate.  Then ladle the Shrimp Creole over or around the rice.  Garnish it with some chopped parsley.  For more plating suggestions, click here to see the related blog article.

Note the shrimp will only need to cook for about 2 minutes, so do not add the shrimp until you are ready to serve the creole.