Cajun
Jumbalaya
This is a favorite of mine. It’s a lot of work, but makes a heap of food that is good for several feeds.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
people
|
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup cellery chopped
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 1 medium green pepper chopped
- 8 oz tomato sauce from a can
- 14 oz diced tomatos from a can
- 1 cup water
- 1 lb boneless chicken breasts sliced thin when part frozen
- 3 spicy Italian sausages sliced thin when part frozen
- 1/2 lb shrimp cleaned
- 2 tbsp Creole seasoning
- 2 cups pasta bowtie routini, eg..
Ingredients
Vegetable Base
Meats and Treats
Noodles
|
|
- Before you begin, pull out the chicken breasts, sausages, and shrimp and set them on the counter to thaw. When partially thawed, slice thinly, and set aside in a bowl.
- When fully thawed, sprinkle with 1 tbsp of the creole spice - coating thoroughly - and set aside.
- Partially frozen, cut up the sausage and set aside.
- Peel the shrimp whenever you want, but these go in dead last, otherwise they get over-coooked.
- Chop up all your veggies. The sharper the knife the better.
- Set a pot to boil for the the pasta. Once boiling, set the timer for 10 minutes. You want "al dente" so the pasta absorbs some of the flavor later.
- While the water is heating, add the oil to a wok, and then the sliced onion and celery. Cook on medium, adding water as necessary to prevent browning. This takes about 5 minutes.
- Once cooked and translucent, add the green (red, or yellow) peppers, and cook until the water comes out of them. About 5 minutes.
- Add the sliced chicken to the wok, ensuring no pieces stick together.
- Once browned, add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sausage.
- Add well drained pasta, and simmer until you have the consistency you want. (Add cornstarch here if needed)
- Finally, add the shrimp and cook until light pink. This takes only a few minutes. Overcook at your own peril.
- Serve however you like. I use a spoon and my favorite bowl.
Once you get going, it is rather non-stop until you are eating. This is a meal you literally build one ingredient at a time, but boy... is it ever worth it. Mushing the creole spice onto thawed chicken and cooking it first over the veggies makes the creole spice stick to the chicken pieces. If I were to do anything to better this dish, I would add ~ a teaspoon of cornstarch (with a wee bit of cold water) near the end just to thicken the juice slightly so it sticks to the noodles a bit better. Some like to serve this over rice, while I have tried most of the different pastas in the house. Not to big, not too small, don't bother with linguine... oops!