Great minds ...

I picked a new recipe to try for dinner last night: Rachael Ray's Jambalaya Pasta, which she calls Jambasta. It sounded good; we all love Cajun flavors around here. Apparently, as I went back this morning to find the recipe, it's gotta be one of the most blogged about RR recipes ever. It took me forever to find the original post where I first read about it. LOL! That would be over at Kitchen Illiterate. Her pics made me jump up and start cooking, even though I'd been planning to make something else all day. When I went to find her blog, I came across this one and this one and even this one! Of course it's at the Food Network site as well as at the magazine.

I was gonna write a big, long article about it but what more can I say about it? It was good. Fairly quick. Lots of veggies. It has beer in it. :-)

We like it.

Off to find a more obscure recipe for tomorrow!

Jambasta
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Salt

1 pound penne rigate pasta with lines

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 turns of the pan

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 pound andouille sausage, any brand, casing removed and diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped or thinly sliced (1 large jalapeno my be substituted)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 ribs celery from the heart with greens, chopped

1 onion, chopped

Salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup beer, 1/2 bottle

1 cup chicken stock

1 (14-ounce) can, crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons hot sauce (recommended: Franks Red Hot or Tabasco) eyeball it 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1/2 pound chicken breast, diced into small pieces

1/2 pound medium shrimp, cleaned and tails removed

1/4 cup heavy cream, eyeball it

2 scallions, sliced

Heat a pot of water to a boil for pasta and add salt to it then pasta. Cook to al dente and drain.

While pasta works, heat a deep skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, butter and andouille. Brown the sausage 2 to 3 minutes to render the fat. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add garlic, peppers, celery and onions. Saute the veggies for 5 to 6minutes. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and add flour to the pan. Cook flour with veggies 2 minutes more then whisk in beer. Cook beer out, 2 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, hot sauce and thyme. Bring liquid to a bubble and add chicken and shrimp. Cook 6 to 7 minutes until chicken is firm and shrimp are opaque and firm. Stir to mix in cooking juices then add in cream. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Ladle up the jambasta and top with chopped scallions and reserved crispy andouille.