Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a spicy one-pot dish from the south of the USA which combines meat, poultry and seafood. Its history is mixed, some reports saying it was the closest Spanish immigrants could get to paella whilst others state it originates from the bayou near New Orleans. Whatever it’s past it is a deliciously simple dish with as many variations as cooks. If you don’t have cajun spices you can make your own using paprika, thyme, cayenne, oregano and pepper. A recipe for making your own can be found on the BBC food website.
Makes 4 portions
Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 25-30 minutes
Ingredients
300g (dry weight) long grain rice (preferably basmati *)
75g chorizo sausage cut into cubes
200g skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1 large green pepper, sliced
1 large red pepper, sliced
3 cloves garlic
250g (2 large) tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
2 tsp blackened Cajun spices
180g cooked jumbo king prawns
Method
- Cook the rice according to the packet instructions
- Place the chorizo in a large non-stick sauté pan and gently heat to release the fat in the sausage stirring often.
- Add the chicken and cook in the released fat for 5 minutes.
- Add the peppers and continue cooking over a low heat, for another 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes and spices.
- Let the mixture bubble away for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally .
- Add the prawns to the mixture whilst you drain the rice, saving a few prawns for decoration.
- Combine the rice and sauce mixture, ensuring it is all piping hot and stir to coat all the rice with the sauce.
- Serve at once.
Serving suggestion: Serve with a salad of leaves or add 200g petit pois at the end of point 5, making sure that everything is piping hot before serving.
Freezing: St0re in an airtight container on the day of cooking for up to 3 months. Reheat to piping hot in a microwave oven.
Nutritional analysis per portion
| Energy kcal | 500 | ||
| Protein g | 32 | ||
| Carbohydrate g | 71.6 | ||
| Of which sugars g | 6.6 | ||
| Fat g | 11.4 | ||
| Of which saturates g | 3.1 | ||
| Fibre g | 3 | ||
| Salt g | 1.3 |
Produced by Claire Fenlon and Fiona Wilcock 2020