Cajun Shrimp and Andouille Alfredo Sauce over Pasta


Daughter makes a meal


They don't call it Home Economics any more. They call it Family And Consumer Sciences, FACS ("fax") for short. I don't know if they thought "home ec" scared away the males, or what. Heck, Whadda Middle School doesn't even have a "shop" class. All of the other "practical arts" classes are technology-based, and they're all pretty much 50-50 demographically, even FACS.

Daughter's homework was to plan and execute a whole meal by herself. Didn't matter which meal. It just couldn't involve pouring things out of boxes. IOW, Hamburger Helper was right out. Oh, and it had to be something she hadn't made before. Which basically meant something I hadn't made before, because she's been a sous-chef-plus for the last year. Ay-yi-yi.

She's got a love of Cajun food and a love of seafood, so when she saw this recipe I'd torn out of the March 2005 issue of Southern Living she was a gonner, nevermind that it takes a lot of preparation time and constant cooking. As usual, original recipe first, changes and comments afterwards.

Cajun Shrimp and Andouille Alfredo Sauce over Pasta
March 2005 issue of Southern Living Magazine

Serves: 6
Prep: 45 minutes, Cook: 40 minutes

1 pound unpeeled, medium-size fresh shrimp
1 (12 oz.) package fettuccine
1/2 pound Andouille sausage, chopped
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped (about 1 c.)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp. salt-free Cajun seasoning
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
6 oz. pasteurized prepared cheese product, cubed
3/4 c. chopped green onions
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Peel shrimp and de-vein if desired. Set aside.

Prepare fettuccine according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Cook sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium heat 10 minutes or until browned; remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tbsp. drippings in Dutch oven. Set sausage aside.

Melt butter in drippings over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook 5 minutes or until just turning pink. Remove shrimp and keep warm.

Add onion and next three ingredients; cook stirring constantly over medium heat about 10 minutes. Stir in Cajun seasoning and flour. Cook over medium heat 1 minute stirring constantly. Gradually stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in heavy cream; cook over medium-low heat 8 minutes or until mixture simmers. Add cheese cubes, sausage, and shrimp, stirring until cheese melts.

Stir in chopped green onions, Parmesan cheese, and fresh parsley. Serve over fettuccine.

The Camera notes:

• Sure, fresh shrimp's best. But we live in the fly-over, baby. Frozen has to do.
• Good thing Daughter chose to make this the weekend before Mardi Gras, or I'da had a heckava time finding andouille. It could be done, but not easily. Smoked sausage would be an acceptable substitute for those who can't find it or can't handle the heat, but it's more greasy.
• I don't have to tell you about frozen pre-chopped onion, do I? Good. Ditto jarred pre-minced garlic. Yeah, I'm a Philistine.
• I didn't check to see if my Cajun seasoning is salt-free or not. Shoot me.
• Heavy cream? I don't think so. Half-and-half works fine. They make fat-free half-and-half, but I wouldn't go there.
• "Pasteurized prepared cheese product" means Velveeta, folks.
• Parsley? You know how my family feels about that.
• Don't start the fettuccine water until you finish cooking the shrimp, unless you like trying to keep cooked pasta warm.
• It'll take long enough to melt the Velveeta that your shrimp will warm back up, so don't kill yourself trying to keep them warm.
• Fettuccine comes in 16 oz. boxes around here, and we ended up with enough sauce after our meal that we decided to cook the other 4 oz. and add it in before we tossed the leftovers in the fridge. It fed five of us the first night (we've three teenagers, remember?) and three of us leftovers.

This recipe is made by a church group that specializes in delivering meals to folks with family crises -- birth, death, sickness, etc. -- and is led by a man who runs a frozen food business. For delivery it's meant to be divided in thirds with the pasta in then frozen, and baked frozen at 350° F for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or baked thawed at 350° F for 45 minutes.

Posted: Tue - February 20, 2007 at 03:53 PM   Home         | | View Technorati reactions

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