COOK: Creole Jambalaya Pasta with Smoked Sausage, Sweet Peppers, & Onions

• Creole Jambalaya Pasta Ingredients
• Kitchen Equipment Needed
• How to Make Creole Jambalaya Pasta
• Storage & Serving Ideas
• Creole Jambalaya Pasta (Pastalaya) with Smoked Sausage, Peppers, & Onions

This quick Creole jambalaya pasta recipe brings all the bold flavors of jambalaya to a one-pot pasta sauce. The “holy trinity” of peppers, onions, and celery are sauteed with garlic, spices, and smoked sausage, then tossed with fresh or canned diced tomatoes and simmered into a quick homemade pastalaya sauce.

You can serve this flavor-packed sauce over short pasta, like this farfalle or penne, or toss it with long pasta like fettuccine or linguine. It’s an simple and delicious dinner full of big flavors straight from the Big Easy!

Want even more robust jambalaya flavor and a meal packed with protein? You can add a cup or two of diced or shredded roasted chicken or cooked shrimp or other seafood at the end, or keep it simple with just smoked sausage and veggies sauteed together for a satisfying dinner that’s sure to please!

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Creole Jambalaya Pasta Ingredients

Pasta:

You can use short pasta, like farfalle, penne, or rotini, or longer cuts of pasta like linguine, fettuccine, or spaghetti.

Smoked sausage:

Use smoked andouille sausage for a spicy, southern flavor. Or, you can use a hot or mild smoked kielbasa-type sausage. I use pork sausage, but you can substitute turkey, chicken, or beef, or a vegetarian link sausage, to meet your family’s dietary restrictions. This will change the estimated nutritional information in the recipe, and the flavor won’t be the same, but will still taste great!

You can also add diced or shredded cooked chicken, shrimp, or seafood to the pastalaya sauce and heat through before tossing with the pasta.

Onion:

I use yellow Spanish onions here, but you can substitute white onions for a milder flavor or red for more spice. Sweet onions aren’t traditional but will do in a pinch.

Shortcut easy prep tip for busy days or when peppers are out of season and expensive: Use bagged, frozen bell pepper and onion mix for the onion and bell peppers. You’ll need to add them together out of the order suggested… if you use frozen mix, I recommend sauteing the sausage first, then adding and sweating the fresh celery first by itself until it begins to soften in the pan, then adding the frozen pepper and onion mix.

Bell pepper:

I used green bell peppers, but you can also substitute red or yellow sweet peppers, or use a blend of these. I also added some medium-hot banana peppers from our friend’s garden… you can use those, or more bell peppers or the hot peppers of your choice.

Just adjust the quantity if you’re using very hot ones like cayenne to the heat tolerance of your diners. Better to make it less spicy if you aren’t sure… you can always add hot sauce or powdered cayenne to make it hotter, but you can’t take it out!

Tomato:

The tomato is the major difference between a Creole jambalaya, which usually uses them, and a Cajun one, which usually does not. They add acidity and balance to the smoky sausage, sweet and spicy onion and peppers, and help form the bulk of the sauce.

I used paste-type tomatoes (San Marzano, or Roma-type) from our garden. If you have slicing tomatoes, they will be less firm and more watery in your sauce, so you may need to reduce and simmer it longer.

You can also use a regular (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes here, or diced tomatoes and peppers (Rotel, or home-canned tomato-pepper mix) if you want a spicier sauce.

Seasonings:

This Creole pastalaya sauce is flavored with fresh garlic and garlic powder, Creole or Cajun seasoning mix, fresh or dried thyme leaves, salt, and pepper. I like to garnish this with fresh parsley. If you don’t have any parsley, slivered green onions are also nice for flavor and contrast!

You can serve it with a Louisiana-style hot sauce or red pepper flakes if you want more kick or add a bit to the sauce if you want to spice it up a notch… but it’s delicious without it!

Kitchen Equipment Needed

pasta pot and colander:

Use a pot large enough to hold your pasta plus plenty of salted water without boiling over. I like to use a pasta pot with an integrated strainer, but you can also drain it into a colander or use a strainer lid.

Save a cup or two of the pasta water when you drain the pasta in case you want to add moisture or thin your sauce.

large saute pan:

I use a 10″-12″ cast iron pan, but you can use any similarly sized large skillet, rondeau, or sauteuse pan to saute the vegetables and sausage and make the Creole jambalaya sauce.

How to Make Creole Jambalaya Pasta

one: prep pastalaya ingredients

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. It will boil faster covered, but watch it so that it doesn’t boil over (it won’t make it boil more slowly, I promise).
• Prep the veggies and other ingredients so they’re all ready to go before you start cooking.
  • Peel and chop the onion into small to medium dice (1/4″-1/2″). Small dice will cook faster and make a less chunky sauce. Up to you and your texture preferences!
  • Wash and dice your celery. You can slice them across the stalks into 1/4″-1/2″ crescents, or split them first into sticks and then into an even dice… again, it’s up to you, just adjust cooking time for larger/thicker pieces!
  • Wash the peppers, trim the seeds and stem, and cut into thin strips or large diced pieces.
  • Peel and chop the garlic and set aside (you can use jar garlic here if you don’t have fresh).
  • Cut the smoked sausage into 1/4″ coins or cut them in half and then slice into 1/2″ thick moon shapes.
  • If you are using fresh tomatoes, trim the cores and cut into large dice.

two: saute jambalaya sauce

• Heat a 10″-12″ skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the butter, then the diced onions, salt, and black pepper. Stir and sweat the onions for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the sliced smoked sausage to the softened onions and & brown the sausage, stirring occasionally.
• Next, add the diced celery, the garlic powder, & Cajun or Creole seasoning. Stir and saute for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the diced & sliced bell and sweet or hot peppers.
• Add the sliced garlic, stir and saute for one minute, then add diced tomatoes.

three: cook pasta

• Drop the pasta into the boiling water just before adding the tomatoes to the sauce, stir, and set a timer for 11-13 minutes (or the time recommended by the pasta manufacturer for the shape that you are cooking).
• Test the pasta at the minimum time, and turn off the heat when the pasta is al dente (just cooked through but still firm).
• Drain the pasta, reserving a cup or so of the pasta water.

four: mix Creole pastalaya & serve

• Return the drained pasta to the pot, toss with the fresh parsley or green onion, a small splash (about ⅓ cup) of the pasta water, and the sausage and pepper sauce.
• Stir and fold the sauce into the cooked pasta, tossing until well combined. Add additional pasta water if needed to bring the sauce together and coat the pasta, and de-glaze the sauce pan.
• Plate, and dress the bowls of pasta with freshly grated black pepper and a light sprinkle of flaky sea or kosher salt to taste if needed. You can also add hot sauce, or pass it at the table.

Storage & Serving Ideas

Like most pasta dishes, this is best served while still hot. You can refrigerate leftovers for up to four days in a covered or air-tight container.

I don’t recommend freezing the pasta, as the texture of the pasta can suffer when you defrost and reheat it, but you can freeze the sauce if you make too much or want to make it ahead of time. If you are using fresh tomatoes and plan to freeze the sauce, you’ll want to peel the tomatoes, as the peels will become very tough after freezing and reheating.