Celebrate Black History Month by bringing the great taste of Louisiana into your kitchen. Together with French, Spanish and Indigenous American influences, African Americans are credited with creating Cajun cuisine as we know it today. This bright and vibrant Cajun Shrimp Étouffée recipe features the “Cajun Holy Trinity” of onions, bell pepper and celery and comes together in just 30 minutes. Étouffée means “smothering,” a technique that is applied in this recipe by coating the shrimp in a rich gravy-like sauce. While étouffée is both a Cajun and Creole cooking technique, this recipe leans more towards Cajun style of étouffée because it has a thicker, gravy-like consistency. One thing’s for certain: this dish will have you hooked on the lively flavours of Cajun cooking.
ingredients
Cajun Spice Blend
Shrimp Étouffée
directions
Combine ingredients for the Cajun spice blend in a small bowl, mix and set aside.
Toss the shrimp in a bowl with a dash of salt and cayenne pepper, to taste. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and cook the shrimp for about 30 seconds per side. The shrimp should not be fully cooked (it will finish cooking later in the simmering sauce). Transfer the shrimp into a bowl and keep warm until the juices from the shrimp seep into the bowl. Pour the shrimp juices into the chicken stock to bring the serving size to 2 cups. Supplement with additional chicken stock if necessary.
In the same pan over medium-high heat, add salted butter. Sauté onions, bell pepper and celery for about 5 minutes until fragrant. Add in the entire Cajun spice blend and mix, then add in flour and mix for 2 minutes. Add in diced tomatoes and whisk in chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce, then bring to a simmer and cook for 5-7 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced and forms a gravy-like consistency. Finally, return the shrimp to the étouffée and cook for 1 minute.
Serve with rice and garnish with green onions.
