Buffalo Andouille and Shrimp Jambalaya Recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons light olive oil, plus 2 more tablespoons
1 12 oz. package of Buffalo Guys All Natural Gourmet Buffalo Andouille sausage, cut into bite sized pieces
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped bell pepper
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
6 dashes of Cholula hot sauce (because of its smokey flavor)
sea salt and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons Emeril's Original Essence seasoning, plus more to season shrimp
4 cups chicken stock
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
3 cups basmati rice
15-20 shrimp
3 large green onions (green and white parts), chopped
handful of fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
Sour cream for garnish
Hot sauce for garnish

Preparation

Step 1

Start by chopping up a whole package of Buffalo Guys andouille sausage and brown it up in a couple tablespoons of light olive oil. The sausage is already fully cooked, so you're just getting some color on it to help build your layers of flavor.

Once browned, remove the andouille from the pot (I used my dutch oven and it was perfect for this recipe) and set aside to add back in later. Add another tablespoon of light olive oil if needed, then add the onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic and saute for a few minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Next add the tomato paste to the pot and stir to combine.

Next, return the andouille sausage back to the pot and pour in the chicken stock.

Then add a can of diced tomatoes, a bay leaf, Emeril's Essence, the dried thyme, the hot sauce, the crushed red pepper, and salt and black pepper to taste. Before adding the salt, taste the mixture to determine how much you want to add and just add a little at a time. It will get most of it's salt from the sausage, but you will need a little more.

Stir and bring everything up to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.

Simmer on the lowest heat setting for 30 minutes. This will give you just enough time to get your shrimp cleaned and cooked. Peel and devein 15-20 shrimp (however many you'd like). Place them on a paper towel lined plate to remove the moisture and season them with Emeril's Essence seasoning mix. I found seasoning them on just one side was enough. That way you taste the seasoning, but also the great natural taste of the shrimp, too.

Heat about a tablespoon of light olive oil in a small saute pan and add the shrimp in batches, cooking them seasoning side down first. Cook for about a minute on one side to create a delicious crust, then flip them over to finish on the other side. Remove them from the pan and cook the rest the same way. I decided to do the shrimp separately like this so I could get that texture seared onto the shrimp and I thought it would be more flavorful this way.

By this time, it should be time to add the rice to the pot. Stir, cover, then simmer on low for another 20 minutes.

The rice will soak up all the liquid and it will be just a big pot of spicy, tomato-y, sausage rice goodness. Ahhhhh yeah...

Fluff it up with a big spoon and stir it all up. At this time, you would add the chopped green onions and stir them.

Then, place your cooked shrimp all over the top of the jambalaya (your heat should still be on low), and put the cover back on the pot to keep everything warm and to heat the shrimp back up.

When you serve it, just place some in a big bowl, hit it with some more hot sauce if you like it spicy, then top it with a dollop of sour cream and if you have fresh parsley, here is when you would add that for garnish. The sour cream is so good with this. It cools the spiciness a bit and adds a layer of richness and comfort to the dish. It's just so good - you have to make it.