The name sounds fun and cheerful, and so is the look and taste of this dish with its riot of colours, flavours and textures.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 4 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs, each cut into 3 pieces (500 g/1 lb 2 oz total weight)
- 1 oz (30 g) chorizo, chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 fresh green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 10½ oz (300 g) canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp chilli pesto
- 18 fl oz (500 ml) reduced-salt chicken stock
- 7 oz (200 g) brown basmati rice
- 7 oz (200 g) raw prawns, peeled and deveined pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
How to Make It
Heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid over medium–high heat, then add the chicken and cook, uncovered, for 1–2 minutes. Add the chorizo and cook for a further minute, stirring, until it begins to release its oils. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and chorizo from the pan and set aside.- Reduce the heat to medium–low, stir the onion, celery, green pepper and red pepper into the pan and cook for 5–10 minutes, until soft, adding a little of the stock if the pan gets dry.
Add the garlic to the pan with the chillies. Cook for 1 minute, then stir in the tomatoes, pesto, pepper to taste and a little of the stock and cook for a further minute.
Stir in most of the remaining stock and the rice. Bring to a simmer, return the chicken and chorizo to the pan and cook, covered and without stirring, for 16 minutes. Lift the lid to check that the dish isn’t too dry. If it is, stir in the remaining stock and/or a little boiling water, cover and cook for a further 4 minutes. If it is too wet, remove the lid for the rest of the cooking time. Stir in the prawns to cook through for the last 3 minutes of the cooking time. The jambalaya is ready when the rice has absorbed almost all of the stock and is tender, and the chicken, prawns and vegetables are cooked through.- Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.