I’ve seen some great pastalaya recipes lately. The addition of a cream sauce seemed like a perfectly wonderful way to jazz up and keep moisture in jambalaya. However, the idea of noodles in my Cajun dish just seemed wrong to me! Jambalaya is a fantastic one-pot meal that is pretty quick and easy. So here is my take on a pasta-less pastalaya or creamy jambalaya.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups rice
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Optional fresh Parmesan flakes or slice a block finely (less than 1/8” slices)
- 1 lb Smoked sausage (Conecuh Cajun), sliced
- 3 large chicken breasts, 1 inch chunks
- 2 bell peppers, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- Celery if you want to be proper, diced
- Garlic to your heart’s desire (4 cloves here), finely sliced or diced
- Small (~4oz) can of tomato paste
- Seasoning salt you like (Tony Chacherie’s)
- Olive oil for frying meats
- Butter for frying veg
- Walled pan or pot at least 8 cups volume
Brown the meats:
Brown sausage on medium to get the fat to render. Remove sausage, leaving the sausage fat in the pan. Season your chicken chunks and cook in sausage fat until golden brown. Chicken will cook more later so try not to overcook here, just get them some color. Remove and leave to rest with the sausage.
Soften and season the veg:
Lower heat to medium low, add butter, bell peppers, onion, optional celery, and garlic. Season well and cook until tender/translucent. Stir frequently to evenly cook veg and scrape up the fond. Veg will release a lot of water, that’s fine.
Build the sauce:
Add tomato paste to veg and stir. Return meat to pan. Add cream, chicken broth, Parmesan, and finally rice. Carefully stir to incorporate and season to taste.
Simmer:
Bring heat up to bubbling then down to simmer. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure rice isn’t sticking to the bottom. Once rice has absorbed the liquid to your liking, remove from heat and serve. Don’t forget to leave some liquid – rice will continue to absorb some afterward!
Chris Bowden 