Week #18: Louisiana - Dirty Rice and Andouille Sausage Pizza

State:  Louisiana

I realize after typing up these blogs that I do not travel too often, but I am sure you already knew that.  Okay, so what I do know about Louisiana is New Orleans, gumbo, the Saints, LSU, Cajun and dirty rice.  So for this challenge, I decided to do a dirty rice pizza.  I thought it would be interesting to do, because how many pizzas have you ever had with rice on it?  Exactly!  Why not be different and creative on this one?  I do have to tell you that surprisingly, this pizza turned out very well.  I didn't know what to expect, but the rice actually tasted really good on the crust.  So I hope you try this challenge or help it inspire you to do something else. 

Ingredients:

Andouille Sausage: (Please note: I do not measure on spices.  This is a best guess estimate)

½ pound of ground sausage

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp of Garlic

1 tsp of Thyme

1 tbsp of Creole seasoning

¼ tsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of paprika

Dirty Rice:

1/2 cup of sweet or bell peppers – diced petite

1 can of petite tomatoes

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of minced garlic

1 tsp of paprika

1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning

1 cup of white Jasmine rice

1/3 cup of onion – diced

1 tbsp of Creole Seasoning (See below)

1 can of petite tomatoes

Creole Seasoning Mix:

1 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoons garlic powder

½ tablespoon black pepper

½ tablespoon cayenne pepper

½ tablespoon dried leaf oregano

½ tablespoon dried thyme

Sauce:

1 can of tomato paste

2 tbsp of half & half

1 1/2 cans of water from tomato paste can

2 tbsp of Creole seasoning

1 tsp of red pepper

Salt & pepper to taste

1 Pizza crust

1 cup of freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese

Dirty Rice:

For the rice, I decided to cook the rice separately in a rice cooker to save some time.  Traditional dirty rice methods focus on cooking in broth and on a stove.  Since I was pinching time after work on a Friday night, I made the rice in a rice cooker.  In a large skillet or large sauce pot, heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil.  Once pan is warm, add in diced peppers and onions.  Cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent or soft.  Then add in 2 tbsp. of olive oil and add the rice.  Add the can of tomatoes and the seasonings.  Stir until all of the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Sauce Base for Pizza:

In a medium sauce pot, add the 1 can of tomato paste and water.  Turn on medium heat and cook until mixture becomes like a tomato sauce.  Once sauce is mixed well, add the creamer or milk and seasonings.  Cook until sauce is cooked and like a soup consistency.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Meat:

Andouille sausage is a staple in Cajun cooking, so it only made sense to make it from scratch.  In a medium pan, heat 1 tsp of canola oil until warm.  Add in ground sausage and cook thoroughly until all the meat is gray in color.  There should not be any pink coloring on the meat.  Add all seasonings and mix thoroughly. Set aside and allow meat to cool.

Pizza:

Here comes the fun part!  First, I would cook the crust for 5-8 minutes depending on whether it is pre-made or from scratch.  Take pizza out and add a ladle full of tomato sauce for the base of the pizza.  Apply the amount of sauce at your discretion.  Secondly, add the rice mixture on top of the sauce and evenly distribute the rice along the pizza.  The rice should cover the whole pizza.  Next, add the sauce all over the pizza.  Finally, add the cheese on top of the pizza and spread out thoroughly.  The cheese is to compliment the rice, but not to overpower it. 

Pairing: 

So for this pizza, I found a great beer by NOLA Brewing Co, which was the Mecha IPA.  NOLA’s IPA is a great beer brewed with a hoppy flavor, which made this pizza taste much better.  This is my first time tasting a beer from NOLA and I really enjoyed it.  When pairing a wine, a good robust red wine like a Pinot Noir or Merlot would be great for this.      

Learning Moments Section: 

I barely prepared going into this challenge.  I was originally going to do a NOLA broil, but I didn't have all of the cooking equipment.  Usually, a crab and crawfish boil consists of cooking everything with a big steaming pot and burner.   Unfortunately, I do not have this as of yet so I decided to do something else.  Off the fly, I have to say that I was very surprised how good it turned out.  When you look at the pizza, it doesn't appeal to the eye as much, but it highly appealed to our taste buds.   The spicy and rich flavors of the dirty rice and sausage, with the cheddar made this pizza very good.   Sometimes making something simple is the best way to do it versus being all complex.  Top Chef has taught me this as well. Cook something that you can kill, versus making something with technical or skill importance.  Hope you enjoy!