Sausage Dirty Rice #ImprovCooking

Welcome to #ImprovCookingChallenge - where for the month of March we are given the ingredients of Bananas and Chocolate to combine in a recipe of our choosing to share with you. Find our group on Facebook if you're interested in joining in the fun; Nicole from Cookaholic Wife hosts our group! 

Today we're sharing dishes that incorporate sausage and rice! I don't cook with sausage all that often - although I suppose there are many iterations of sausage that count. We do use a fair amount of smoked sausage in Cajun style dishes (jambalaya anyone?!) and the one breakfast sausage I seem to have a weakness for is Maple Flavored Links. 

Beautiful dark roux!

See all of our Sausage and Rice dishes for today!

 

Goan Chorizo Pulao by Sneha’s Recipe

Creole Style Jambalaya by Cookaholic Wife

Sausage Dirty Rice by Making Miracles

Smoked Sausage with Dirty Rice by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Vegan Jackfruit Seed Pulao by Magical Ingredients

Today I opted to make a basic "dirty rice" recipe which I've never made - or even eaten - before. I love Cajun flavored dishes so thought it was time to give this one a try. 

According to Wikipedia: Dirty rice is a traditional Louisiana Creole dish made from white rice which gets a "dirty" color from being cooked with small pieces of pork, beef or chicken, green bell pepper, celery, and onion, and spiced with cayenne and black pepper. Parsley and chopped green onions are common garnishes.

This iteration is light on veggies, but has fabulous depth of flavor from the roux base. I think next time I would definitely add the holy trinity into the sausage while cooking to fill it out a little more - but as a base this is a wonderful side or even entrée. I think throwing some beans in there would also be delicious for more of a red beans and rice twist. 

Sausage Dirty Rice

Ingredients

4 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

1 pound ground pork sausage

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 TBS minced garlic (jarred)

3/4-1 cup chicken stock, divided

3-4 cups cooked white rice

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk the flour into it, until smooth. Cook over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, until it is a deep brown color and smells nutty (be careful not to let it burn). Turn off heat and set aside.
2. Add the sausage to a large nonstick skillet, and cook over medium to medium-high heat about 8 minutes, getting some good browned bits as you cook. Add in the seasonings: cumin, black pepper, garlic, and paprika. Stir until fragrant for a minute or so. 
3. Stir in about 1/2 cup of the broth, and then whisk in the roux, stirring to blend. Bring mixture to a low simmer and simmer about 8-10 minutes until sauce is well thickened. Add in additional broth during cooking as needed to make sure you have a good sauce, and that it doesn't all simmer away.
4. Stir in the cooked rice, gently stirring until evenly combined and coated. 

Recipe adapted from This Silly Girl's Kitchen