Let me tell you a story about shrimp with pork and apricot sausage. It’s Monday and I just got home from work and there’s nothing prepared for dinner. Quick! Run to the freezer and see what we can cook. A bag of frozen shrimp appears before me, so I grab it. A quick dive into the fridge to see what hasn’t been used from last week’s farmers market foraging and I locate some fresh peas and one of my favorites: pork and apricot sausage. I can do something with this!
One Pot Wonder
If you’ve seen my ratatouille recipe or some of my soup recipes, you know I love one pot meals. I decide to make a big pot of jasmine rice flavored with some great saffron. With the shrimp being frozen, the timing should work out perfect for me to add it all in the pot at once. That works just fine for me. I don’t feel like standing over the stove in the summer heat, and I can wind down from the day (read that: play with the cats) while it’s cooking.
I set about to preparing all the ingredients: chopping the onions, cutting the sausage into bite-sized pieces, and rinsing the rice. I then sautée the onions and garlic, and add the sausage to give it a touch of browning.
Lemon Olive Oil For A Depth Of Flavor
I use one of my favorite olive oils to give the dish a bit more flavor. Sciabica’s has a stand at the San Francisco Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building. I fell in love with their stuff years ago and still make a trip up there to get more when I run out!
Layer In The Ingredients
Once I have the onions, garlic, and sausage sautéed I can start layering the ingredients to cook the rice. I pour in the chicken stock and run my spatula around the bottom of the pan to get all the browned bits off the pot. This will keep me from getting the ‘burn’ warning. Then I add the peas, shrimp, herbs and rinsed rice, making sure everything is fully submerged.
I decide to use some of the Rumi Spice Saffron that my BF Trilo recently purchased for me. I really love the earthy flavor and think it will go great with the shrimp and sausage. I’m also planning on finishing the dish once it’s cooked by stirring in some coconut cream I have been wanting to try. I found this at our local whole foods.
A Quick Cook And Slow Release
Now that I have all the ingredients in the pot, and I make sure the jasmine rice kernels are fully submerged so they can absorb properly, I pop on the lid. Time set: 12 minutes and then I let it come to pressure for another 10 minutes after the beep before releasing the rest of the pressure manually. The rice was maybe a bit over, so I think next time I’ll go for 10 minutes.
I give the pot a good fluff and stir in my coconut cream to give it a creamy finish. And YUM! What a tasty bowl! Not bad for a Monday ‘quick grab and dump’ meal. And the best part is I have enough to eat for the rest of the week. That’s my favorite way to cook.
So let’s break down the recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Olive Oil
- 1/2 Onion chopped
- 1 clove Garlic minced
- 14 oz Chicken stock
- 1 pint Fresh peas
- 1 lb Frozen Shrimp large, peeled and deveined, tails removed
- 14 oz Jasmine rice rinsed well
- 1 sprig Fresh oregano
- 1 sprig Fresh mint
- 1/4 tsp Saffron threads
- 1/4 tsp Paprika
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/2 lb Pork and Apricot Sausages (2 sausages)
- 6.8 oz Coconut cream
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients and tools
- Chop onion into small pieces.
- Cut sausage into bite-sized pieces.
- Put the rice into a fine mesh collander and let run under water until the water is clear. Set aside.
- Add olive oil to the bottom of the inner pot of your Instant Pot. Turn on Saute at high heat. Allow oil to heat up.
- Saute oinions for a few minutes. Add garlic using mincer.
- When onions are translucent, add sausage and brown slightly, stirring often with silicone spatula. Scrape burned bits off the bottom. Turn off saute.
- Add chicken stock, peas, and herbs to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any remaining bits of onion and sausage.Note: this step is critical to keep from getting the 'burn' warning while cooking.
- Add rice and frozen shrimp into the pot, stir to get everything coated with the spices and stock. push the rice kernals down into the liquid.
- Cover the pot, close the vent, and cook on manual, high pressure for 10 minutes. After the beep, allow the pot to come to pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Then carefully open the vent to allow the remaining steam to release.
- Remove the inner pot and turn off. Using a large spoon, stir from the bottom to fluff the rice and distribute the spices. Pour in the coconut cream and stir to combine.
- Serve hot and store the remaining rice in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!
