Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya

Saturday, I ran across a good price on shrimp so I picked up some extra and came up with a quick and easy Saturday night dinner for Reg and I that seemed a little more special than my weeknight recipes. ALDI had a bag of frozen cheese ravioli for $1.99 that served 4. It was a new item for them and I wanted to try it. I tossed the pasta with some of my pea pesto which takes 2 seconds to make and topped it with some shrimp. It turned out great and was easy to do and pretty cheap to boot! I saved the remaining shrimp for our dinner Sunday night.

Cheese Ravioli with Shrimp and Green Pea Pesto Sauce

About the Jambalaya...working off of several different recipes, I figured out a way to cook this meal using one pot which makes for VERY easy clean up.  I wouldn't want to go up against Emeril with this recipe but for as easy as it is to make, we thought that it was darn good. In fact, I am going to call it "Weeknight Jambalaya" so that no one is under the impression that this is authentic New Orleans cuisine. Of course, I also added extra veggies because that's just what I do! I doubled the recipe to make enough for leftovers so cut the recipe in half if you don't want a gigantic pot of Jambalaya.  You could also made double and freeze half for another day.

Shrimp and Sausage Weeknight Jambalaya (serves 8) You could substitute 1 pound cooked chicken breast for either the shrimp or sausage or just add another package of smoked sausage and forget the shrimp if you want to make it super easy! The only time consuming thing about this dish is that there is a fair amount of chopping to do. If I'm pressed for time, I will chop up the veggies in advance and put them in a big freezer bag in the fridge until I can put the dinner together later. However, once you've chopped everything you are pretty much done with the recipe! Serve with a salad for a complete meal.

1 package smoked sausage (cut lengthwise then into bite size pieces crosswise)
3/4 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)
3 green peppers diced

2 onions diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 -14oz cans diced tomatoes (don't drain)
2 cups rice
4 cups chicken stock/broth
2 bay leaves
2 tsp dried thyme (optional)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (for mild) 3/4 tsp cayenne (for medium) or 1 tsp cayenne (for hot)
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a stock pot, large soup pot or dutch oven, add all of the ingredients except for the shrimp! Stir to combine. Cover and bake in the oven for 1 hour until rice is fully cooked.  Immediately out of the oven, toss in the shrimp and replace lid. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving to allow the shrimp to cook through.