Creamy Red Beans and Rice with Smoked Sausage

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A weeknight shortcut to the Louisiana classic: canned red beans simmered with browned smoked sausage, a soft trinity of onion, celery and bell pepper, and a smoked ham hock for backbone. A cup of the beans gets mashed into the pot so the whole thing turns silky without any cream. It makes a big pot on purpose — the flavor deepens overnight and it reheats better than almost anything else you'll cook.

Ingredients

• 1 lb smoked andouille or kielbasa sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 tbsp neutral oil or bacon fat
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small smoked ham hock (about 12 oz), optional but recommended
• 3 15-oz cans red kidney beans
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or hot sauce, to finish

• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 3 cups water
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• Louisiana-style hot sauce

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the sliced sausage in a single layer and brown for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the edges are deeply caramelized and the fat has rendered. Scoop the sausage out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, leaving the fat in the pot.
2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper with a pinch of salt and cook in the sausage fat for 8 to 10 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, until the vegetables are very soft and the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
3. Stir in the paprika, thyme, black pepper and cayenne and toast for 30 seconds so the spices bloom in the fat.
4. Drain and rinse two of the three cans of beans; add them to the pot along with the third can, liquid and all (that starchy liquid helps the gravy). Add the broth, bay leaves, Worcestershire, 1 tsp salt, and the ham hock if using. Nestle the hock down into the liquid.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer, cover partially, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes so nothing sticks. If using a ham hock, give it 45 minutes instead so the meat loosens.
6. Meanwhile, make the rice: combine the rice, water, 1 tsp salt and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir once, cover, and reduce to the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Kill the heat and let it steam, still covered, for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
7. Pull out the ham hock and set it on a cutting board. Scoop about 1 cup of beans and liquid into a bowl and mash them to a paste with a fork, then stir the paste back into the pot — this is what makes the gravy creamy without any dairy. Alternatively, mash directly in the pot 8 to 10 times with a potato masher.
8. Shred any meat from the ham hock, discarding skin, fat and bone, and return it to the pot along with the browned sausage. Simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 more minutes, until the liquid coats a spoon and looks like loose gravy rather than soup. Fish out the bay leaves.
9. Finish off the heat with the vinegar or a good shake of hot sauce, then taste and adjust salt — smoked pork varies wildly, so this is the step that makes or breaks it. Spoon over the rice, shower with scallions, and pass more hot sauce at the table.

Chef's tips

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