Jambalaya
Hang on to summer with this warming, one-pan wonder. With flavours from South Africa, Louisiana, Spain and France, this tasty dish is a cross between a jambalaya, gumbo and paella. The difference between a jambalaya and gumbo is that the rice is served as a separate dish when cooking a gumbo, whereas in a jambalaya the rice is cooked in the pan a bit like a risotto or paella. It can also be made with fish such as prawns and mussels. Here, I’ve kept it to meat but feel free to add what you like and use your favourite sausages. From BBQ to table in one pan and hopefully still warm enough to eat outside in the autumn sunshine.
Ingredients
Serves 6-8
4 boneless and skinless chicken thighs, diced
6 sausages (I used Jolly Hog)
Chorizo sausage, cut lengthways and sliced
2 celery sticks, diced
2 onions, diced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 orange pepper, sliced
1 tin cherry tomatoes in sauce or chopped tomatoes
1 tin butter beans
320g basmati rice
400ml vegetable stock
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
Salt & pepper
Spring onions and parsley to garnish
Method
1. Set up your BBQ for direct cooking and take a large pan. I used the new Karbon Steel Pan from Kamado Joe which is 40cm diameter and 6cm deep.
2. In a little oil, saute the onions, celery and chorizo for about 5 minutes to soften and get the oils, colour and flavour from the chorizo.
3. Add the sausages and chicken pieces and continue to cook until the sausages take on a bit of colour before adding the garlic, peppers and all the dried spices along with salt and pepper. Stir.
4. Tip in the rice and coat all the grains with the juices before adding the tin of cherry tomatoes, tin of butter beans (drained) and the vegetable stock. Give it a good stir. Bring it up to a gentle simmer then change your BBQ to indirect cooking. I cooked this in my Kamado Joe Classic and had the temperature at 170°C.
5. Continue to cook with the lid down for about 25 minutes. Look at it now and then, give it a stir to make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pan. You might need to add a little more water if it’s looking a bit dry. I took out the sausages, cut them up and popped them back in but you can leave them whole if you like.
6. Use an instant-read thermometer to check that the chicken and sausages are cooked to temperature and that the rice is just done. Sprinkle with spring onions and parsley. Take straight to the table and dive in with a big spoon. Serve with crusty bread.