Dirty Rice al fresco

I was asked to review al fresco sausage, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. If you are reading this in November of 2011, you might still have a chance to WIN some of this yummy sausage in our Giveaway.

To write my review, I wanted a recipe that did more than just prepare the sausage. I wanted to blend the flavors together; along with other ingredients, to see if their individual flavors would stand out. Teamed up with onions, jalapeno peppers and shrimp, the 2 distinctly different sausages didn’t lose their stand alone flavors. When we tasted the Dirty Rice al fresco, we could pick out which sausage was which. Great job al fresco!

Oh, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

5 strips of bacon
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (I only used 1, next time 2 will be better)
1 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning (divided)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups water
1 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled and cleaned, tail off (or on, up to you)
3 links al fresco Hot Italian Chicken Sausage
2 links al fresco Spinach & Feta Chicken Sausage

Preparation:

fry bacon in pan, remove when semi crispy
fry onion in bacon grease until soft
add garlic and peppers, mix and cook for 2-3 minutes
add rice, mix well
add paprika, 1 teaspoon Old Bay and cayenne pepper, mix well

add the water, mix well (what a surprise, right?)
cover and let simmer for 25-30 minutes or until rice is cooked
add 1 teaspoon Old bay to pot of water, bring to a boil
drop cleaned shrimp into pot
boil 3-4 minutes until the shrimp are pink, drain and set aside

remove casing from al fresco Italian Chicken Sausage, place in hot frying pan
break into pieces, cook 5-7 minutes over high heat until cooked through
slice al fresco Spinach & Feta Chicken Sausage into discs, add to cooked Italian Sausage (the Spinach & Feta Sausage is pre-cooked)
stir fry sausages together for a couple of minutes to get the Spinach & Feta Sausage heated through