I have been searching for several years for the perfect shrimp and grits recipe. I tried several ways of cooking this wonderful dish and I got close to perfection, but I wasn’t quite there. And then, a few days ago fortune smiled upon me and I met chef Billy Villareal on a hunting lease in South Texas. He graciously shared his recipe with me and I have to tell you it is the best I have ever tasted. There’s a lot of moving parts to this recipe but I guarantee you it’s worth it. This dish has now earned a prestigious spot in my personal menu rotation. If you like shrimp and grits, you just have to try this recipe. I guarantee it! Bon appétit
Recipe
Ingredients
| Salt | Pepper |
| 1/2 Tsp. cayenne pepper | 1 & 1/2 sticks of butter |
| 1/2 lemon | One bunch Italian flat parsley |
| 8 Oz.mascarpone cheese | 1 Tsp. garlic powder |
| 1 Tsp. smoked paprika | Fresh chopped garlic to taste |
| 1 Tsp. celery seeds | 1 link of andouille sausage |
| 3 Cups Milk | 3 cups water |
| 1 & 1/2 Quaker oats grits | 2 roasted red peppers |
| 1 green pepper | 2 sliced onions |
| 1 diced tomato | 5 diced celery stalks |
Grits:
Bring 3 cups of water and 3 cups of milk to a boil in a sauce pan and reduce to a simmer. Add one stick of butter, mascarpone cheese, salt, pepper, and stir until grits are thick. Set this aside for the final preparation.
The stock
Peel the raw shrimp. Bring about 3 cups of water to boil in a sauce pan and add onions, celery, and raw shrimp shells. Add salt and pepper and let the stock simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes.
The sauce
Roast and sweat two red peppers in a plastic bag. In a skillet, sauté green peppers, onions, garlic, and some of the parsley leaves. In a separate skillet sauté the andouille sausage pieces. When they are fully crispy and rendered, add 1/2 of them to the sauce and the remaining half in a separate dish. Add fresh shrimp to the skillet that the sausage was cooked in and cook until light pink. Add 1/2 the sausage, 1/2 the roasted red peppers, and the diced tomatoes to the sauce. Poor the stock into the skillet and season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, cayenne pepper, celery seeds, and garlic powder.
Final preparation
Pour the sauce in the skillet with the shrimp. Stir gently for a minute or two. Place a big ladle of the grits on a plate. Add shrimp to the top of the grits. Gently poor liquid sauce over the grits and garnish with parsley, remaining red peppers and andouille sausage pieces. Enjoy!