We Improve on One Pan Jambalaya · Monday April 20, 2026 by colin newell
I am a big fan of spicy food. Dishes like Texas chili, nachos with blazing hot salsa, enchiladas, most any Thai cuisine and especially South Asian… Punjabi spices – loaded with fragrant spice blends.
You will find many of these recipes on my blog.
While not for everyone, degrees of spice give us variety in our daily cuisine. I mean, you cannot live on meat and two veg forever… well, I guess some do.
Not me – I like my taste buds challenged… something with a kick. And this recipe ticks a lot, if not all, of those boxes.
Good old Jambalaya is an easy one pot – one pan dish for those that can have it any which way they want to swing.
Ingredients…
▢ 1 Tablespoon oil, (vegetable or canola oil)
▢ 1 pound Andouille sausage, cut into ¼ inch thick slices
▢ 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
▢ 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
▢ 2 Tablespoons butter
▢ 1 yellow or white onion, chopped
▢ 4 green onions, chopped
▢ 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
▢ 3 ribs celery, chopped
▢ 1 green bell pepper, chopped
▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
▢ ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
▢ 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional, add more for spice, if desired
▢ 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
▢ 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
▢ 1 1/4 cup long-grain white rice
Directions…
In a large skillet with a fitted lid, add the oil over medium high heat.
Once hot, add the chicken and cook, flipping once or twice to brown on all sides (don’t cook chicken completely through).
Remove to a bowl.
Add sausage and cook until browned on both sides. Add to the bowl with the chicken.
Reduce heat to medium and add butter and flour to the pan and stir well, scraping up any leftover browned bits from the pan.
Add onion, garlic, celery, and bell peppers and sauté for a 3 minutes.
Add basil, Cajun seasoning, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir well to combine.
Add chicken broth and rice bring mixture to a gentle boil.
Add reserved meat to the pan. Reduce heat, cover pan with fitted lid and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, and rest with the lid on for 10 minutes. Then gently fluff with a fork and rest again for 5 minutes before serving.
Colin Newell is a Victoria B.C. resident and long time coffee expert… his rambling has appeared everywhere from the New York times to the Wall Street journal, CTV Newsworld and in-flight magazines from carriers like Air Canada to Air Transat… he has been doing this blog thing since the dawn of internet time…
Pasta Puttanesca by the numbers - authentic Italian cooking series · Friday September 3, 2021 by colin newell
I was raised on Spaghetti and meat balls. Tomatoes are my blood. Decades on, I take the greatest delight in genuine Italian cooking. My mama was raised in an Italian-Canadian enclave in Montreal and she knew her stuff. Here in the 21st Century, I have expanded on my childhood knowledge by digging deeper into the cuisine.
Click on the photo for some screen filling action!
Enter pasta Puttanseca. It is a simple dish with a storied past. I’ll let my readers draw their own conclusions as to the myth versus the reality – but on dreary days, this is one of our go-to recipes for a quick and satisfying meal with the minimum of fuss, quick preparation with ready ingredients… made better by the addition of my incredible sourdough focaccia bread
Ingredients
1/8 c. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed
4 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 (14-oz.) diced fire roasted tomatoes
1/4 c. kalamata olives, pitted
1/8 c. capers
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
Serving for 2 of boxed spaghetti or bucatini
Chopped parsley, for garnish
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving
Instructions
Heat oil in a large skillet or pot over medium heat.
Add garlic and cook until fragrant – about 1 minute.
Add anchovies and cook until fragrant, another minute.
Add tomatoes, olives, capers, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Bring a large pot of salted water (heaping tablespoon of kosher salt to water) to a boil.
Add spaghetti and cook according to package directions, until al dente; drain. Toss spaghetti in sauce.
Sprinkle with parsley and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Serve with a fat glass of Red wine and my incredible Focaccia bread – You’ll thank me later.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and coffee expert exploring the powers of the internet since 1996 – his treatise on caffeine has cured many a case of insomnia over the years…
Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta · Saturday August 25, 2018 by colin newell
It’s a sure sign of summer’s forward motion towards fall when the garden baskets fill with cherry tomatoes and basil plants bow under the weight of their own bounty.
This simple pasta dish is vegetarian/vegan and is a delight paired with a voluminous red white.
Ingredients –
Fettuccine for pasta – fresher the better.
Olive oil
Cherry tomatoes – around 1 cup or so. Halved.
1/2 cup chopped basil (Fresh!) – and chopped fresh garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chili flakes
Balsamic crema
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Process
Put on salted water for pasta (enough for two people…)
Heat a saute pan with two tablespoons of olive oil.
When heat achieved (medium) put in 3/4 of the halved tomatoes, seasoning with salt and pepper (heavy on the pepper)
Saute for around 2 minutes – then add heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic and a sprinkle of chilli flakes to taste
Stir for another minute or so and add a 1/4 cup of white wine.
Turn heat down to low medium.
Take half of the chopped basil and throw it into the saute pan. Mix or stir. Cook for 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta.
Add it to your Saute pan. Mix to combine. Add 3/4 of the cheese and the remaining basil. Mix to combine.
Divide between two plates and garnish with remaining cheese.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and coffee lover who appreciates simple dishes served with love… and wine…
Dinner hour - Bucatini All'Amatriciana · Monday June 1, 2015 by colin newell
This is one of my wife’s favourite meals at a local restaurant named Zambri’s – using our own tomatoes from the garden as well as many other fresh ingredients, we created the Marinara (which is basically Tomatoes, onions, finely diced celery, carrots, 1/2 cup of red wine, garlic etc – full recipe to follow). The Marinara is the foundation for many classic Italian recipes and we will give it its own blog entry shortly!
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 oz. thinly sliced pancetta (or bacon)
1/2 red onion – cut lengthwise in half – and 1/4” half moons
2 teaspoons mince garlic
1 heaping teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cups home made marinara sauce
freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
2 servings Bucatini pasta
Put water on to boil with salt
Meanwhile in a saute pan combine olive oil, pancetta, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes.
Cook over medium low until the onion is softened and the pancetta has rendered much of its fat – about 12 to 15 minutes.
Drain away all but 1/4 cup of the fat from the pan.
Add the marinara sauce.
Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer.
Allow to simmer for 6 – 7 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, cook the Bucatini in boiling water for about 12 minutes or as directed by pasta cooking instructions – looking for “very firm” – drain.
Add the pasta to the simmering sauce and toss for about 1 minute to coat.
Divide the pasta among the plates (two servings) dress with grated cheese.
