Shrimp Jambalaya

Use 3 cups of stock rather than 5 if your are serving over rice. The uncooked rice in the recipe, if used, will absorb 2 cups of stock. The reason some found this soupy is because 5 cups of stock without uncooked rice is too much liquid

The blandness is because Paul Prudhomme uses quite a lot of spices in his cooking, which although this recipe claims to be adapted from his recipe, it certainly lacks. Paul calls for 2 bay leaves, 1.5 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp ground cayenne, 1.5 tsp of oregano, 1.25 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp black pepper, .75 tsp thyme. Note: the white pepper is in almost all his jambalayas, it adds heat. Oregano only appears in seafood jambalaya. Don't use pimenton. Use tomatoes and tomato sauce.

For someone who has criticized others for making substitutions, I have to admit I used uncured Andouille sausage sliced up instead of ham. It was very straight forward and a great meal for a cold night before a blizzard.

Read the label carefully, as San Marzano tomatoes are not necessarily from Italy anymore. I got a can that turned out to be domestic, and they were underripe and a waste of money.

You can freeze this if you make a few changes: (1) Do NOT add the rice; (2) Do NOT add the shrimp; (3) Simmer the sauce with all of the other ingredients as directed in Step 3 for 15 minutes. Portion the sauce into small containers, cool, cover and freeze for up to 3 months. To finish bring the sauce to a low simmer, add the shrimp and simmer only until the shrimp are firm (no more than 4-5 minutes). Serve rice on the side. I prefer extra garlic, red pepper flakes and Andouille for more flavor.

Better served immediately or could I prepare 24 hrs. Before serving & refrigerate.....would the flavors meld & taste better the next day (..like lots of soups & stews)?!?! Having 10 for dinner tomorrow night & trying to get as much done ahead of time as possible.

True San Marzano say D.O.P. or D.O.P.G. on the label and have a seal. Only these may sold in the EU as San Marzano tomatoes. Cento sells "Certified" San Marzano tomatoes that they claim are from the same Agro Sarnese-Nocerino district as the D.O.P.

La Bella di San Marzano canned tomatoes are just a brand taking advantage of the San Marzano cache. Ignore them.

There is also an heirloom variety of tomato named San Marzano.

I generally use the Cento Certified out of season

As to all of the substitutions people have mentioned, that's the beauty of the dish. It is very flexible and can be adjusted for people's tastes. Make it with what you have on hand. But if you've never used Andouille sausage, try it once.

One mandatory step that was left out is deglazing the pan. Do it after cooking the Trinity and meat. You can use a lil wine or broth. If you don't, you're leaving out a bunch of flavor.

Pescetarian here. Subbed chanterelle mushrooms + old bay seasoning for the ham - it was delicious.

This is hilarious. Why did you even use this recipe? I am from Louisiana. Chef Paul Prudhomme is one of the most celebrated Creole chefs in history; former EC of Commander's Palace and Prudhomme's Creole Kitchen, both New Orleans' icons. As is his Jambalaya. And while this comment has no reflection on the taste of what you made, I'm certain you enjoyed it, I can assure you it would be returned at every table to which it was served as "Jambalaya." Brown Rice? Wine? Charizo? Paprika?

I used chopped pork belly instead of the ham, and I added a large finely diced jalapeño with the other vegetables. I also used a liberal splash of tabasco. Even still it was a very mild but delicious jambalaya. All guests added more Tabasco to their servings. The shrimp really only needed to cook for a couple of minutes. Any longer and they would have been tough. I think it is best to indicate that the shrimp should be cooked until they are pink.

I use Andouille rather than ham and would agree with some other posters that it could use a little more spice either through the addition of jalapeno or tabasco.

Great base recipe. I used two types of linguica, white wine, tomato achaar, smoked paprika added more garlic to give the sauce more depth/flavor since the simmering time is weeknight short. Served over red beans and rice.

What do people think about freezing leftovers of this? Or would the shrimp become too mushing after thawing? Too large a recipe for 2 people and not sure about cutting it in half.

Pierre Franey died nearly twenty years ago, well before all this foodie taste-testing was the norm. In 1983, when this recipe first appeared, it was hardly "over the top" to specify imported ingredients if quality was your goal.