Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1½ pounds andouille smoked sausage or any other good smoked pure pork sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 3 packed cups julienned onions
• 6½ cups Basic Pork or Beef Stock
• 1½ teaspoons ground red pepper
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup finely chopped celery
• ½ cup finely chopped green bell peppers
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup finely chopped green onions (tops only)
• 3-4 cup rice

Directions

• This dish is cooked for fairly long periods of time over high heat.
• If your gas burner or electric cooking element produces a very high heat, or if your pot is not a heavy one, you will need to adjust the temperature down.
• Melt the butter in a heavy 8-quart pan or large Dutch oven over high heat until pan bottom is well coated with butter.
• Add the sausage in a single layer and cover pan; cook without stirring until sausage is well browned on the bottom, about 7 minutes.
• Turn sausage over and sprinkle 2 packed cups of the onions on top of it.
• Re-cover pan and cook without stirring until sausage and onions in contact with pan bottom are well browned, and until there is a buildup of dark brown sediment, about 7 minutes.
• Add 3/4 cup of the stock and scrape the pan bottom clean.
• Add the pepper and salt, stirring and scraping pan bottom well and turning sausage again.
• Re-cover pan and cook about 2 minutes, stirring and scraping once.
• Add the celery, bell peppers, and garlic, stirring well.
• Re-cover pan and cook about 3 minutes, stirring and scraping once or twice.
• Add the tomato sauce, stirring well.
• Continue cooking uncovered about 5 minutes, stirring.
• Add 1/2 packed cup more onions, stirring well.
• Cook until large puddles of fat have broken out of the mixture and the remaining tomato mixture is thick, about 8 minutes, allowing the sediment to build up on the pan bottom before stirring.
• Stir only if the mixture is sticking excessively to the pan bottom.
• Stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of the green onions.
• Add 3½ cups more stock, scraping pan bottom clean; cook until liquid has reduced to a thick, dark red gravy, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (more often toward the end of cooking time).
• Stir in the remaining 2½ cups stock, ½ packed cup onions, and ½ cup green onions; bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer until gravy is noticeably thicker but still juicy, about 15 minutes more, stirring frequently.
• Remove from heat and serve immediately, allowing about 3/4 cup rice mounded in the center of each plate surrounded by about 3/4 cup gravy and 3 to 4 pieces of sausage.

Notes

• When Mom and Dad Prudhomme retired from the family grocery store, Abel and Jo bought it.
• Then Abel made all the sausages and boudins for the store, and he quickly became well known in Opelousas for his excellent products. He's still making fine sausages; now he runs Paul and K's andouille and tasso plant.
• Mom made sausage in red gravy “wonderfully,” according to Paul, who says, "She used home- made smoked pork sausage in it and served the dark red gravy over rice." Abel and Jo serve saus- age in red gravy often, usually over rice, but oc- casionally over macaroni or spaghetti-and even over (yes, over!) potato salad.
• Select sausage of the best quality you can find since it is the dominant taste of the dish. Abel makes an excellent stock for red gravy (and other dishes) in a pressure cooker; he uses browned bones for the stock.

Photos