Serving Cajun

Cajun Chicken Pasta

We developed this recipe for friends who wanted to serve Cajun Chicken Pasta at their son’s graduation party. After testing and tasting, we thought we had a winner. After making eight times the recipe included here (four full roasting pans), and watching it disappear in two hours, we knew we had a winner!

The pasta is pictured here with the Strawberry & Pea Salad from last month’s blog, Mighty Microgreens. Also a winner!

Each component is seasoned and prepared separately. We chose to use a seasoning blend (Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Cajun Seasoning) because of the volume we would need for a large batch.

The chicken is rubbed with oil and seasoning and allowed to chill overnight. It was also grilled two days ahead which provided more time for the flavors to permeate. Thankfully we have an extra refrigerator for storage because the mouth watering smell of Cajun chicken took over.

The onion and peppers were cut into julienne strips the day before and ready to go.

When ready to prepare the dish , the first step is cooking and draining the pasta. Set the cooked pasta aside and prepare the sauce.

The sauce is a traditional cream based sauce. The seasonings are added at the beginning while sautéing the onions to build the foundation and create layers of flavor. Additional seasoning can be added later. While adding the cheese we blended the sauce with an immersion blender to ensure it was smooth and creamy. Keep the sauce warm.

Once the components are ready, the final dish can be assembled. Sauté the julienned onions and peppers with seasoning until tender. Stir in the grilled chicken (also cut into julienne strips), and then the pasta.

After cooking for a few minutes, stir in the warm sauce. Slowly pour it in stirring as you go and making it as saucy as you like. We prefer to reserve extra sauce and add as needed. If you are holding the pasta to serve to a crowd the pasta will continue to absorb the sauce. The extra warm sauce can be stirred in as needed.

The extra sauce can also be tossed with plain pasta, or poured onto almost anything.

This recipe was written for those who like “Minnesota spicy”. Once the seasoning is added you can’t turn down the heat, but you can always turn it up as you go!

We built flavor into every layer by adding seasoning to each component. With every bite you see and smell the flavor, and then taste it.

This pasta is now a favorite and we plan to make it often. We fondly call it the “graduation pasta”.

Cajun Chicken Pasta with Peppers

INGREDIENTS STEPS

  • 1 lb. Penne pasta

    Meat:

  • 1/4 cup Vegetable oil

  • 1/4 cup Chef Paul Cajun Seasoning – Meat Magic

  • 2 T Smoky paprika

  • 2 lb. Chicken breasts

    Vegetables:

  • 1/2 cup Vegetable oil

  • 3 Assorted peppers, julienne (1 each green, red, yellow)

  • 1 large Yellow onion, julienne

  • 1 T Garlic, minced dry

  • 1 T Chef Paul Cajun Seasoning – Meat Magic

    Sauce:

  • 2 T Olive oil

  • 1 cup Onion, diced

  • 2 T Garlic, minced dry

  • 2 tsp Thyme leaves, dry

  • 2 tsp Oregano leaves, dry

  • 2 T Smoky paprika

  • 2-3 T Chef Paul Cajun Seasoning – Meat Magic

  • 2 T Chicken base

  • 1/4 cup Lime juice

  • 6 cups Whole milk

  • 2 cups Heavy cream

  • 2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded

  • 1/4 cup Cornstarch

  • 1/4 cup Milk

  1. Cook pasta. Drain, rinse with cool water and set aside.

  2. Prepare meat: Combine oil and seasoning. Toss chicken with seasoned oil. Allow to chill for flavors to blend. Can toss a day ahead if desired.

  3. Grill chicken breasts. Allow to cool and cut into strips.

  4. Prepare sauce: Sauté onion in oil until tender. Stir in garlic, seasonings, spices and chicken base. Continue to cook for 5 minutes.

  5. De-glaze pan with lime juice. Cook for 5 minutes to reduce down.

  6. Stir in milk and heavy cream and bring to a low boil.

  7. Whisk together cornstarch and milk to make a slurry. Whisk slurry into sauce until thick.

  8. Add parmesan cheese in small batches and continue stirring until completely melted and incorporated. Use an immersion blender while adding cheese to make it creamy.

  9. Taste and add more Cajun seasoning to reach desired heat. Keep sauce warm.

  10. Prepare vegetables: Sauté julienne strips of onion and peppers in oil until onion is tender. Stir in garlic and seasoning.

  11. Stir in chicken strips. Once peppers are tender and chicken is hot, stir in pasta.

  12. Pour sauce over and continue to stir until combined. Use enough sauce to make pasta creamy. Keep extra sauce warm to use as needed while serving.

  13. Continue to cook pasta dish until hot.

  14. Transfer creamy pasta dish to sprayed holding pans. Cover and hold in a low oven. Stir in additional sauce as needed to keep moist.
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