I normally stay far away from anything that has rice and tomato sauce (one of these days I'll explain about my Spanish Rice problem), but this actually did sound interesting and quick so I figured I'd give it a try (and hey, it was a Paula Deen recipe that didn't have two sticks of butter in it so I considered it diet Paula food!).
Anyone else have the problem of cooking time just getting away from you? I had planned on making this for dinner one Saturday. I cooked a late lunch and figured I'd start this dish around 6:30 or so. Mr. L asked about 8:45 PM..."hey, when are you cooking dinner?". Crap. Completely forgot. So I made a plate of cheese and crackers to hold us over and started this dish. Which had to cook in the oven for almost an hour. Yeah, dinner after 10PM, how continental!
We really didn't plan on eating this that night. We figured the cheese and crackers would fill us up, we'd have a bit or two of this hot out of the oven to try it out and then the rest would be saved for the next day.
Yeah right. After a few small bites, both Mr. L and I were like Oliver...."Please, sir, I want some more". This is actually a pretty good dish and not complicated to make. Not sure it's supposed to be an entree (they say serves 4 to 6) so it would make a nice tasty side dish. We of course used it as an entree...who us? Go figure.
This recipe came from the Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen.
SAVANNAH RED RICE
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced Hillshire Farms sausage
One 14-oz can crushed tomatoes with juice
1 tablespoon Texas Pete or red hot sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Pepper to taste; add salt to taste if desired
1 cup uncooked white rice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. in a saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and bell pepper in butter. Add sausage; heat until mixture is slightly browned. Add tomatoes, hot sauce, tomato sauce, water, and bouillon cubes. Season with pepper and salt as needed. Stir in rice. Pour mixture into a greased casserole and bake for 45 minutes. Serves 4 to 6
Note: I didn't have a can of crushed tomatoes so I used a 14-oz can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos. Gave the rice a nice kick. Since I used the tomatoes with jalapenos, I left out the hot sauce.
