Pastalaya (One-Pot Pastalaya)

Source: Food 52

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb andouille sausage, cut into ¼″ thick rounds
• ¾ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into ¾″ dice
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• ¾ cup finely diced celery
• ¾ cup finely diced green bell pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika
• ½ tsp dried thyme leaves
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried basil
• ¼ tsp cayenne, optional
• 1 28 oz can Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
• 1-1½ cups water
• 10 oz dried pasta, recipe says Penne
• ¾ lb peeled and deveined shrimp, the 21/25 per pound size
• thinly sliced green onion, for garnish

Method

1. Coat a very large skillet (about 14 inches in diameter) with a lid with the olive oil. On medium heat, warm the oil and add the sliced sausage. After the sausage begins to render some of its fat, raise the heat and add the chicken. Saute until the sausage and chicken just begin to brown a bit.

2. Stir the onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, paprika, thyme, basil, oregano, and cayenne (if using) into the sausage and chicken and sauté over medium heat until the vegetables soften. Crush the tomatoes and add them, along with their juices, to the pan. Simmer for about 10 minutes, partially covered.

3. Add one cup of the water, bring up to a low boil, and stir in the pasta.

4. The pasta should take about 12 minutes to cook, so at the 7-minute mark, add the shrimp and continue to simmer until the pasta is al dente and the shrimp is just cooked through. If you need to loosen the dish up a bit, add the extra ½ cup water during last few minutes.

5. Serve in bowls and garnish with green onions.

Notes

This is a good one-pot dinner, very flavorful, and spicy if using the cayenne.

Be sure the pan is big. Mine was right to the brim and that made the pasta harder to cook. I also had to move some to another pan while I cooked the shrimp and then returned everything to the big pot. A bigger pot would have solved that.