Spicy Sausage Rice

This meal is what this year’s culinary journey is all about – finding recipes that will become part of my personal cooking repertoire for the rest of my life. That being said, it’s not new to my household. In fact, I’ve made it multiple times as it’s probably my wife’s favourite of all the dinners I’ve ever made for her. It’s one of the recipes that inspired me to not only discover new dishes, but to document them for future reference (and to share with others).

I actually came across this recipe in one of the more peculiar ways: I needed to use the washroom while going for a walk with my wife, Mateja, and so we popped into our local public library. There on display, lo and behold, was Gordon Ramsay’s “Home Cooking”. Honestly, I didn’t even know that libraries carried cookbooks. I mean, it makes sense – they are books – but it’s not what I’d consider traditional “reading material”. Then again, I’ve borrowed enough movies from libraries over the years to know that these fine public institutions aren’t completely traditional anymore.

Even though I’ve only made one recipe from this cookbook of Ramsay’s, if it were my only means by which I could make this recipe, I would buy it at a moment’s notice. If photographs were never invented; if every photocopier in existence broke down indefinitely; if I had not even a chisel and slate to record this recipe; if Al Gore never invented the internet; if I had no more than a half hour of working memory, rendering it impossible for me to simply remember a list of ingredients; if all those situations/scenarios were to coincide – I would buy this cookbook for the Spicy Sausage Rice recipe alone.

If you want the recipe, though, it’s very easy to find – so much so, that I’m not even going to link to it. You can simply Google it, but make sure to not forget any aspect of the title – I can’t be held responsible if you accidentally search for “Gordon’s Spicy Sausage”. Actually, I will feel too responsible…so here it is: Gordon Ramsay’s Spicy Sausage Rice. In addition to multiple locations in which the recipe is shared, Gordon has actually made a video of him making this dish.

Anyways, this post has run on long enough without actually talking about the food, so I think I’ll finish off by simply posting a ton of progressive pictures of the meal being put together.

Onions in oil. I got distracted removing the sausage casings and our Le Creuset braiser evidently got a little too hot. Fear not, though, as the dish did not suffer from this inattentiveness.

Pepper and garlic added in. It’s still healthy at this point, right?

Sausage added in: seeing red never smelled so good.

The “rice” aspect of Spicy Sausage Rice (added after the spices were mixed in).

The lamest action shot in the history of action shots: white wine being very unceremoniously added to the dish. I honestly thought it would look cooler than it does.

Chicken stock now incorporated. I added extra toward the end of cooking, but I should have added even more, as I find it’s difficult to evenly cook the rice enough with the 2 cups recommended by Ramsay.

Folding in the tomato, green onions, and Italian parsley. The other ingredients do all the work, and then these three guys almost steal the show. Almost.

Ready to be spooned (or technically “wooden spatula-d”) into bowls and devoured.

Anyways – happy cooking!