I recently made dirty rice. I know…it sounds not so yummy. And it wasn’t the traditional Louisiana dirty rice, either. It’s a modified recipe a friend gave to me. Traditional Dirty Rice has ground-up chicken innards in it. That’s what gives it that “dirty” title. The innards, once ground up, give the rice a grayish “dirty” colour. This rice that I made has no innards of any kind in it, unless you count the fact that I took the innards out of some sausage casing. Just get some Italian sausage, squeeze the meat out of the casing and fry it till it’s nice and crumbly.

I used Basmati rice for this dish, but I’m sure plain white rice would work, too. I bought a package of wild rice and measured out ½ c. Put the kettle on to boil. Put the wild rice in a glass bowl and pour boiling water over it. Cover it with some plastic wrap and leave it until you are ready to put everything together and pop it in the oven. Then just drain it well and add to the rest of the ingredients. This way the wild rice is partially cooked only and won’t overcook while in the oven. Since I don’t have a Dutch Oven, I cooked and mixed everything in a roasting pan. Worked perfectly, too.

This recipe doesn’t sound look like much on paper, but once cooked, it’s amazingly good. I cooked it for people who are usually pretty picky about what they eat and everyone said it was a lot better than they thought it was going to be!! LOL

It’s very filling and can be used as a main dish or as a side with a fresh green salad. A little goes a long way.

Cajun “Dirty Rice” Casserole

2 Tbs oil
½ c chopped onion
½ c chopped celery
½ c chopped bell pepper
2 tsp chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c raw rice
½ c wild rice cooked and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
enough chicken broth to bring soup to 2-cups
1-lb (500 grams) Italian sausage

Brown crumbled sausage in oil in a heavy Dutch oven. Add onion, celery, bell peppers,
Garlic, and salt if desired. Sauté until vegetables begin to be tender. Add 1 cup raw white rice and sauté 1 more minute. Add cooked wild rice; add mushroom soup with broth (2 cups)

Bake, covered at 350F for 1 hour.