3 Cajun Shrimp Recipes for Mardi Gras Season (2024)

• ¾ cup (100 g) coarsely chopped green bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped green onion
• ¼ cup (25 g) coarsely chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1¼ pounds (565 g) peeled and deveined small or medium shrimp
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more as needed
• ⅛ teaspoon cracked black pepper plus more as needed
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon hot sauce Preferably Original Louisiana Hot Sauce, plus more as needed
• Peanut oil for frying

• In a large bowl, combine the bell pepper, green onion, celery, parsley, shrimp, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and hot sauce and toss to distribute the ingredients evenly. Using an old-fashioned meat grinder or a food processor, grind the mixture together. If using a food processor, work in small batches and pulse until smooth, then transfer to a bowl. In either case, after grinding, you should not see any vegetables; the boulette mix should be a hom*ogenous paste.

• Fill a large heavy-bottomed pot with 4 inches (10 cm) of peanut oil and heat the oil over medium-high heat to 375°F (190°C). (Alternatively, use a tabletop fryer)

• Using two spoons or a small (#100) cookie scoop, form a ball of the boulette mix no bigger than the diameter of a quarter and carefully drop it into the hot oil. Fry this tester boulette for about 6 minutes, until golden brown on the outside. Transfer the boulette to a paper towel or a brown paper bag to drain excess oil and let it cool. Taste the boulette: Does the mix need more salt? More pepper or more heat? Add salt, black pepper, cayenne, or hot sauce to your liking—I like boulettes to have a slight vinegary taste, and hot sauce gives them that flavor. There is no one perfect formula. You have to taste your mix every time.

• Once you’ve adjusted your mix, drop about 15 balls at a time into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer the boulettes to paper towels or brown paper bags to drain and cool briefly, then serve.

• The boulette mix will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 days. If making ahead of time, add the salt right before frying to keep the mix from getting watery.

Excerpted from Mosquito Supper Clubby Melissa Martin (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2020. Photography by Denny Culbert.

• ½ cup (120 ml) canola oil
• 2¼ pounds (1 kg) yellow onions finely diced
• 1½ tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 garlic clove minced
• ½ cup (75 g) finely diced celery
• ½ cup (70 g) finely diced green bell pepper
• 5 cups (1.3 L) canned tomato sauce (from three 14.5-ounce/410 g cans; see Note)
• 5 teaspoons sugar
• 2½ pounds (1.2 kg) peeled and deveined small or medium shrimp
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, preferably Original Louisiana Hot Sauce
• 1 pound (455 g) spaghetti, cooked as directed on the package (see Note)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion for garnish
• Grated Parmesan cheese for serving (see Note)

• Warm a wide, heavy-bottomed 15-quart (14 L) Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, then add the oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add the onions—you should hear a sizzle when they hit the oil—and season with the salt. Stir well to coat the onions with the oil, then cook, stirring often, for about 25 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden (they should not have a lot of color at this point).

• Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the celery and bell pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 45 minutes.

• Now you’re going to add the tomato sauce ½ cup (120 ml) at a time. Each time you add tomato sauce, add ½ teaspoon sugar. (Scandalous, I know.) So, let’s begin. Add ½ cup (120 ml) of the sauce and ½ teaspoon of the sugar, stir, and heat until the sauce is simmering and bubbling but not boiling, then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Repeat this process until you’ve added all the sauce and all the sugar, then reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cook, stirring every 10 minutes, for 45 minutes more.

• Meanwhile, put the shrimp in a large bowl and season it with the black pepper, cayenne, and hot sauce. Let it marinate on the counter while the sauce simmers.

• When the sauce has simmered for 45 minutes, add the shrimp and 4 cups (1 L) hot water to the pot and stir to combine. Raise the heat to medium-high to bring the tomato sauce back up to a simmer, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened to the consistency of pizza sauce and no longer looks watery. Turn off the heat and let everything sit together for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.

• Serve the sauce over the cooked spaghetti, garnished with the parsley and green onion and topped with Parmesan.

Notes: Buy canned tomato sauce (not pasta sauce) with no added sugar or salt. This is important, because canned tomatoes are often racked with sugar and sodium. Try to buy organic, if possible. I like making this recipe with organic Muir Glen tomato sauce; my mom uses Del Monte sauce.

If you’d like one less pot to wash, cook the spaghetti right in the sauce the way some Cajuns do: 8 to 10 minutes before the sauce is done, crack the spaghetti in half and add it to the pot along with ¼ cup (60 ml) water. The pasta’s starch helps to thicken the sauce. Cover the pot and simmer the noodles in the sauce for about 15 minutes.

When I was growing up, there was no real cheese in the grocery aisles down the bayou—only the “Parmesan cheese” that came in a green can. We all know that what comes out of that green can isn’t true cheese, so get a nice chunk of the real stuff and smother your spaghetti with freshly grated Parmesan.

Excerpted fromMosquito Supper Clubby Melissa Martin (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2020. Photography by Denny Culbert.

• ½ cup (120 ml) canola oil or ½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter or lard
• ½ cup (65 g) all-purpose flour
• 3½ pounds (1.6 kg) yellow onions finely diced
• 1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more as needed
• ½ cup (70 g) finely diced green bell pepper
• ⅓ cup (40 g) finely diced celery
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 pounds (1.8 kg) peeled and deveined medium or small shrimp
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper plus more as needed
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce preferably Original Louisiana Hot Sauce, plus more as needed
• 4 cups unsalted chicken stock or shrimp stock
• ¼ cup (13 g) finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• ¼ cup (20 g) finely chopped green onions
• Cooked rice for serving
• Pickles for serving

• Warm a heavy-bottomed 6-quart (6 L) Dutch oven over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add the oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add the flour and cook, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the roux is a little darker than café au lait, closer to the color of peanut butter. Don’t walk away—focus on stirring your roux.

• Add the onions, season with a dash of salt, and stir to combine. (Be careful to avoid splattering the roux when adding the onions—this is when folks sometimes burn themselves.) Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 20 minutes.

• Add the bell pepper, celery, and bay leaf to the onions and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let the vegetables smother (see Note) together until very soft, with no bite remaining, about 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through to make sure nothing is burning and to ensure even cooking. Taste a piece of bell pepper and a piece of celery—if they’re ready, there should be no more crunch to them.

• Meanwhile, put the shrimp in a large bowl and season with the salt, black pepper, cayenne, and hot sauce. Set aside at room temperature to marinate while the vegetables cook.

• Add the shrimp to the vegetables and stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the stock and stir. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 30 minutes to let the flavors marry. You want to reduce the liquid by a quarter or a half depending on how thick you want your stew.

• Taste the stew: Does it need more salt or pepper? Add some. Does it need more heat? Add cayenne. Does it need acid? If so, add more hot sauce. Adjust the seasoning to your liking, then stir in the parsley and green onions.

• Serve the stew over rice, with pickles alongside.

Note: In French, étouffer means “to smother,” which is how I describe the process of cooking onions, bell pepper, celery, and tomato over the lowest possible heat in a covered pot. Smothering traps all the flavors inside the pot, slowly softening the vegetables and concentrating their flavors.

Excerpted fromMosquito Supper Clubby Melissa Martin (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2020. Photography by Denny Culbert.