serves 8
This recipe comes from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa FOOLPROOF. I used to follow a recipe for jambalaya that I picked up in New Orleans years ago, it was good but took all day to cook and simmer. This jambalaya is every bit as good and takes an hour or so. This is another dish that you can prepare ahead of time and reheat if need be.
If you do prepare it in advance, make sure to remove the lid to cool before refrigerating or the jambalaya will keep cooking and the rice with get mushy. To reheat, add ½ cup of water and reheat with the lid on over very low heat on top of the stove, stir occasionally.
Ingredients
- 2 TBL good olive oil
- 1½ pounds andouille sausage, sliced diagonally ½ inch thick
- 8 chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 TBL unsalted butter
- 1½ cups yellow onion, chopped (1 large)
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and large-diced
- 2 cups celery, large-diced (3 large stalks)
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled plum tomatoes, drained and medium-diced
- 2 TBL minced seeded jalapeno peppers (2 peppers)
- 1 TBL minced garlic (3 cloves)
- 2 TBL tomato paste
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 3 cups extra-long-grain white rice, such as Carolina
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 pound (16- to 20-count) shrimp, tails on, peeled and deveined
- ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish
- ½ cup sliced scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a very large (13-inch) Dutch oven or stockpot
- Add the sausage and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the pieces until browned
- Remove the sausage to a bowl with a slotted spoon
- Meanwhile pat the chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle both sides liberally with sale and pepper
- Add the chicken to the pot, skin side down, and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until browned
- With tongs, turn and cook for another 5 minutes, until browned
- Remove to the bowl with the sausage and set aside
- Don’t be tempted to cook both together; they won’t brown properly
- Add the butter to the oil in the pot, then add the onions, bell peppers, celery, 1 TBL salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper and cook over medium to medium-high heat for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent
- Add the tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, thyme, cayenne, and 1½ teaspoons salt, and cook for another 2 minutes
- Add the white wine and scrape up the browned bits in the pot
- Add the stock, rice, sausage, chicken, and bay leaves and bring to a boil
- Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for another 20 minutes
- Stir in the shrimp and simmer covered for 5 more minutes
- Off the heat, stir in the parsley, scallions, and lemon juice
- Cover and allow to steam for 10 to 15 minutes, until the rice is tender and the shrimp are fully cooked
- Discard the bay leaves, sprinkle with extra parsley and scallions, serve hot