Shrimp Creole - Southeast Texas Style

Susie in Texas's Note:

Shrimp Creole is a New Orleans classic. While I seriously doubt any good chef there or in Louisiana, for that matter, would even dare use Rotel tomatoes for their recipe, I love how they add just the right amount of "fire" to this dish without being too hot. If you are unable to find the Rotel brand tomatoes in your area, you can just use regular canned, diced tomatoes for a milder version and you can always add a little cayenne or tabasco sauce to spice it up. I use the mild Rotel tomatoes and that seems spicy enough for us. This recipe makes a fairly thick sauce but if it seems too thick, you can add about 1/2 cup of water. This is one of my family's favorite ways to eat shrimp but occasionally I substitute cooked crawfish tails for the shrimp.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• ½ cup butter , divided
• 2 cups onions , diced
• 1 cup celery , diced
• 1 cup green bell pepper , diced
• 4 garlic cloves , minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 (10 ounce) cans Rotel Tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
• ½ cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bunch parsley , cleaned & finely chopped
• 2 lbs medium shrimp , peeled & deveined

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, melt 1/4 cup of the butter (reserving the other 1/4 cup for later)over medium heat.
2. Saute the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic until tender.
3. Add the other 1/4 cup butter to the skillet and stir in until melted.
4. Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and stir until combined.
5. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and red wine, blending well.
6. At this point, add all the remaining ingredients except for the shrimp.
7. Let come to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
8. Add shrimp to simmering creole and stir to combine.
9. Cook approximately 10 more minutes, until shrimp turns pink and is done.
10. Remove bay leaves before serving.
11. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Reviews

[Chef #731060]

Excellent and easy recipe. We cooked shrimp in the sauce and it gave it a rich seafood flavor.

[tmwood1012]

I really enjoyed this dish! Thank you for sharing. I, too, used 1 can reg. tomatoes and 1 can rotel (regular) and the heat was perfect. A little spicy, but not so hot you can't enjoy the flavors. I would use a little less tom.paste next time, personally. I used yellow rice and it was DELICIOUS!

[JeriBinNC]

I don't care if this recipe isn't really authentic--it's darn good, and that's what matters to me! :-) I used 1 can of mild Rotel and 1 can of regular and thought that was just the right amount of heat for us. And it smelled soooo good while it was simmering. I'll make this often; thanks for posting!