Low Country-Style Red Rice with Shrimp & Smoked Sausage

This hearty one-pot meal is simple but not haphazard. There are several steps but none are difficult, and some can be done ahead or left to cook unattended. This dish is made with long-grain white rice and takes its name from the deep red color it gets from the tomatoey shrimp stock used as the cooking liquid. This style of red rice comes from the Low Country area near Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, and I think it one of the best rice dishes in the world, right up there with paella, jambalaya and Persian-style pilaf. 

To keep with the regional roots of this dish, use heirloom Carolina Gold rice, which still grows in parts of the South. It’s available in some stores and online. 

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound 21/25 shrimp with shells
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3 tablespoons bacon fat, divided (or more butter)
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, divided
• 2 1/2 cups tomato passata (strained tomatoes)
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Large pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups long-grain white rice (such as Carolina Gold)
• 8 ounces spicy, smoked sausage (such as andouille), cut into 1/2-inch rounds

Directions

Peel the shrimp and set aside the shells. (If the shrimp have heads, set them aside as well. They have great flavor.) Devein the shrimp, and refrigerate them until needed. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shells and stir to coat. Cook, stirring continuously, until they turn bright pink and release their aroma, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and simmer gently until the stock reduces to 2 cups, about 30 minutes. Strain and keep warm over very low heat. Discard the solids. 

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon bacon fat in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt; cook until tender, about 8 minutes, stirring often. 

Stir in the reserved shrimp stock, the tomato passata, vinegar, thyme, bay leaves, black pepper, red pepper flakes and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep warm over low heat. 

Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons bacon fat in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. When the butter foams, add the rice and cook, stirring slowly and continuously until the grains are well-coated and a little shiny, about 2 minutes. Don’t rush this step. The coating of fat affects the rate the rice absorbs the liquid and keeps it from turning mushy. 

Stir the shrimp stock mixture into the rice. Cover, reduce the heat to very low and let it cook undisturbed for 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let it rest while cooking the sausage and shrimp. Do not lift the lid while the rice cooks or rests. 

While the rice rests, brown the sausage in a second large skillet over medium heat. Transfer to a bowl. 

If there is enough fat from the sausage in the pan to cook the shrimp, omit the remaining butter. Otherwise, add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the pan; when it foams, add the shrimp and cook only until they are opaque, 1 to 2 minutes, stirring continuously. 

Uncover the rice and stir gently. The grains should be plump and tender. It will have absorbed most of the cooking liquid but will not be dry. Fold in the sausage and shrimp. Discard the bay leaves. Check the seasoning and serve at once.

Sheri Castle, award-winning food writer and cooking teacher, is known for melding culinary expertise, storytelling and humor, so she can tell a tale while making a memorable meal. Her creative, well-crafted recipes and practical advice inspire people to cook with confidence and enthusiasm. She's written a tall stack of cookbooks and her work appears in dozens of magazines. In 2019, the Southern Foodways Alliance named Sheri among Twenty Living Legends of Southern Food, calling her The Storyteller.

Sheri says that she's fueled by great ingredients and the endless pursuit of intriguing stories, usually about the role that food plays in our lives, families, communities and culture.

When she steps away from the kitchen or a local farm, Sheri enjoys spending quiet time at her home near Chapel Hill. She hails from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.