Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a rice, meat and seafood dish from Louisiana. Like so many recipes from the Deep South, cooking begins with the so-called 'trinity' of onion, green pepper and celery. The name is a linking of jambon, the French word for ham (a spicy sausage of some sort is always included) and alaya, meaning rice in an African dialect.

Serves 1

1 small onion, chopped, or 30 ml/2 tbsp frozen diced onion
1 garlic clove, crushed, or 5 ml/1 tsp garlic purée (paste)
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
½ green (bell) pepper, seeded and sliced, or 50 g/2 oz frozen sliced mixed peppers
A pinch of crushed dried chilli flakes or 2.5 ml/½ tsp chilli paste
1 small skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup very hot (not boiling) vegetable or chicken stock
75 g/3 oz/1/3 cup easy-cook (converted) rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
50 g/2 oz large peeled cooked prawns (shrimp), thawed if frozen
1 pepperami sausage stick, sliced
15 ml/1 tbsp fresh or frozen chopped parsley

1. Put the onion, garlic, celery, pepper slices and chilli in the ceramic cooking pot. Arrange the chicken chunks on top of the vegetables, then pour the stock over. Cover with the lid, switch on the slow cooker to High and leave to cook for 30 minutes.
2. Add the rice to the chicken and vegetables, stir well and season generously. Re-cover with the lid and cook for a further ¾-1 hour or until the rice is just tender.
3. Stir in the prawns, pepperami and parsley and cook for a final 10-15 minutes to heat them through. Taste and re-season, if necessary, then serve straight away.

Cook's tip
Instead of using a stick of celery, season with celery salt rather than ordinary salt.

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