Turkey Jambalaya

Serves  4

The holy trinity of Creole and Cajun cooking is bell pepper, onions and celery.  Add to these spicy chorizo sausage and rice, and you have the wonderfully named jambalaya. The beauty of jambalaya is that it’s great at using up leftovers, and in its native Louisiana there are probably as many different recipes for it as there are cooks! It’s also virtually a one-pot meal, with vegetables mixed in with the meat and rice.

Ingredients

450g leftover turkey meat (or whatever you have left, even a little stuffing!)

50g chorizo sausage, thinly sliced (if you don’t have any sausage, use smoked paprika for the spicy jambalaya flavour)

175g long-grain brown or white basmati rice

400ml stock, include leftover turkey gravy

2 onions, finely chopped

3 sticks of celery, chopped

2 green peppers, diced

½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper

Instructions

Heat a large frying pan or casserole over a medium heat. Add the oil and gently cook the onions and celery until softened.

Then add the pepper and cook for a further couple of minutes, giving the vegetables a good stir.  Then stir in the leftover turkey cut into strips and rice. Add the remaining ingredients, give it a good stir and bring to the boil and cover with a lid.

Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the rice is cooked through (it’ll be less if using white rice) for about 25 minutes. Taste for seasoning and if you like it spicy then add some more spice or hand the hot sauce around the table! If you would like to use this recipe on another occasion then do use boneless chicken and fry the pieces until brown before adding to the rice and other ingredients.

Happy Cooking!