How To Make Shrimp Picquante

Shrimp Picquante is a delicious, fiery cajun dish from New Orleans. We were introduced to this dish in a cooking class with a chef from NOLA and we are making it completely gluten free.

This recipe is made gluten free by using gluten free flour.

Watch A Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making shrimp picquante:

https://youtu.be/fF_EwypL9fw

Ingredients For Shrimp Picquante:

• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1/4 Cup Gluten Free Flour
• 1 Red Pepper, Diced
• 1 Onion, Diced
• 1 Stalk Celery, Diced
• 5 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
• 2 Serranos
• 1/2 lb Shrimp
• 2 Tbls Cajun Spice
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne
• 1 Tbls Brown Sugar
• 3 Tbls Tomato Paste
• 2 Tbls Lobster Base
• 1 Tbls Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 Tbls Herbsainte
• 1 1/2 Cups Tomato Puree
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 2 Bay Leaves

Make A Roux

Our picquante starts as so many Cajun recipes do, with a roux. We are going to cook flour in butter until it turns a honey brown color.We really want the flour to cook so this will take 30 to 40 minutes.

Stir The Roux

We’ll need to stir the roux almost constantly as it cooks. You want to make sure the butter doesn’t burn so keep the heat low and be patient with it. We want a somewhat dark roux, about the honey color of oak. It doesn’t need to be the darker, mahogany color of a gumbo roux.

Add the Chopped Vegetables

Once our roux is ready we will add the chopped red pepper, onion, celery, garlic and serrano pepper. We’ll get that stirred in and then cover the pan and let it cook down, about 10 minutes.

Season the Shrimp

While our vegetables are cooking we will add the cajun seasoning to the shrimp and stir to coat. We use Emerill Seasoning that we make but you can find cajun seasoning already mixed. We’ll store the seasoned shrimp in the refrigerator until we are ready for it.

Add The Seasonings

Now we will add in our salt, pepper, cayenne, sugar, tomato paste, lobster base and worcestershire sauce. We’ll stir this well. We are using a Better Than Bouillon lobster base.

Herbsainte

Next we’ll add our herbsainte. This is a an herb liqueur that is reminiscent of anise and other things. This adds a distinctive character to our dish and is an important ingredient.

Tomato Puree, Lemon Juice and Bay Leaves

Our last ingredients are tomato puree, lemon juice and bay leaves. We put about 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes in the blender and made our own tomato puree from fresh tomatoes. Now we need to cover this and let it simmer on low for 20 minutes to half an hour to marry all these flavors. You’ll need to stir this frequently to keep it from sticking.

Cook The Shrimp

Now all we have to do is add the shrimp to the pan and let it cook. We only want to cook the shrimp for about 2 minutes so it doesn’t get tough.

Serve Immediately

We’ll serve this dish over rice with green onion slices and chopped parsley for garnish.

If you enjoyed this recipe subscribe to our Youtube Channel and share on social media. Leave us a message and let us know of any other recipes you’d like to see us work on.

Print