Red Beans and Rice With Andouille

JT3's Note:

This was the Monday meal using leftover ham from the Sunday family meal, today we fix this whenever the mood hit us. Alex Patout outdoes his compertition with this recipe.

• Total Time: 14 hrs
• Prep Time: 12 hrs
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 lb dried red beans
• 1 lb andouille sausages or 1 lb other pure smoked pork sausage, sliced in 3 inch lengths
• 1 lb diced tasso
• 2 medium onions (chopped fine)
• 1 large bell pepper (chopped fine)
• 2 cups chopped green onions
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:

1. It is best to soak the beans overnight in enough water to cover, but it is not essential (unsoaked beans simply take longer to cook).
2. Place beans in a Dutch oven or other large heavy pot and add water to cover by about 2 inches.
3. Bring to a boil and add the onions, bell pepper, Andouille, tasso, salt and peppers.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and let simmer (stirring occasionally) until the beans are tender (soaked beans will take 1 to 1-1/2 hours and unsoaked beans up to 3 hours), if the mixture begins to dry out add more water.
5. When the beans are tender remove 2-3 cups of them and mash with a fork and return to the pot (this makes a thick gravy base for the beans), if there still seems to be a lot of liquid in the pot (mash another couple of batches of beans the same way).
6. Stir in the green onions and parsley and serve over rice.