Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe

This recipe is my attempt to make Chili's cajun chicken pasta.  Everone in my family loves it.  And it's pretty easy which is a plus for me.  This is not an exact amount on the chicken and the pasta.  You can adjust the amount for larger or smaller family.  This is what I use to feed 4 of us.

Ingredients
4 -6 pieces of boneless chicken breast (I use the skinless, boneless frozen breasts)
16 oz. box of penne rigate pasta
cajun seasoning ( I use McCormick)
some olive oil and butter (or whatever oil you prefer to cook the chicken)

Ingredients for the sauce
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups of grated parmesan cheese

Thaw the chicken and cut it in bite size strips.  Add about a Tablespoon of butter and a little pour of olive oil to a large frying pan.  When that is melted and hot (careful not to let the butter get scorched), add the chicken.  Sprinkle on some of the cajun seasoning. Cook on about medium till it's done all the way through.  As the chicken is cooking, get your pasta water on to boil.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.  I use most of the box of pasta, you can use however much you need for your family size. 
As the chicken and pasta water are going, start a medium saucepan for the sauce.  I turn it on low and put the 1/2 cup of butter in to start melting.  When the butter is melted I add the heavy cream, whisking it in slowly,  then when the butter and the cream are getting hot I slowly add the parmesan cheese, whisking it until it's blended well.  I tun the heat up to about medium until it is blended and hot,stirring frequently, then remove from heat.  It will thicken some after removing from heat. 
When the pasta, sauce and chicken are all cooked and pasta strained, add the sauce to the pan of pasta,  mix it in well.  ( If you used less pasta you may need to adjust the amount of sauce)  You can always divide the sauce recipe in half if you are cooking for just 2. Then put the pasta on a plate, add some chicken to the top of the pasta and sprinkle a little cajun seasoning on top.
We usually have some garlic toast with it.

3 comments: