Red Beans and Rice

Every Monday, you can find a pot of red beans and rice cooking in someone’s kitchen in New Orleans. The food writer and New Orleans bon vivant Pableaux Johnson, who died in 2025, was no exception. He often invited an ever-changing band of writers, musicians and other outcasts to sit at the long table in his house, where he put out his version of red beans and rice, cooked with local hand-made andouille sausage. The dish, an easy meal from when people used to reserve Monday to do the wash, was once made with the pork bone left over from Sunday supper. Louisiana andouille works best here, but smoked sausage will do.

Ingredients

• dried red beans - 1.5 ((preferably New Orleans Camellia brand))
• andouille sausage - 1 (sliced 1/2-inch thick (smoked sausage can also be used))
• olive oil - 4 tablespoons
• garlic - 6 cloves (minced)
• onion - 2 (medium, finely diced)
• celery - 1 (large rib, finely diced)
• green bell pepper - 1 (medium, chopped)
• black pepper - 1.5 teaspoons
• cayenne pepper - 0.125 teaspoon
• salt - 2 teaspoons
• bay leaves - 3
• dried basil - 2 teaspoons
• sage - 0.75 teaspoon (rubbed)
• parsley - 1 cup (chopped fresh)
• green onion - 1 bunch (fresh, chopped)
• rice - (White long-grain, for serving)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cover beans in water and soak for at least 4 hours or overnight. (Water should cover beans by at least an inch.)
2. In a large, heavy pot, brown sausage in 1 tablespoon of oil until slightly crisp. Add remaining oil, then the garlic and onions. Sauté over medium heat until onions become transparent and limp. Add celery and bell pepper and sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Pour soaked beans and water into the pot and bring to a simmer. Add black pepper, cayenne, salt and all herbs except parsley.
4. Cook until beans are softened, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Taste and adjust seasonings.
5. Fifteen minutes before serving, remove 1 cup of beans to a bowl and, using a fork, mash them and stir back into the pot to enhance the creamy texture of the dish. Add parsley and green onions. Simmer about 15 minutes, taste and adjust seasoning, and add up to 1 cup more water if beans seem too thick. Remove bay leaves. Serve over white long-grain rice.