.cajun chicken pasta w/ roasted red pepper sauce.

I received an email the other day asking if I had a cajun chicken pasta recipe that I would be willing to share. Well, I didn't, but I am *always* looking for new dinner ideas and thought this would be a good one. I didn't want to do a basic cream sauce so I took it one step further and made a roasted red pepper cream sauce that was out of this world! A little kick and oh yah..

This recipe doesn't take that long to make. You just have to remember to make your rub and coat the chicken the night before so it has enough time to marinate. You can have this on your table in under an hour!


In a large ziploc, put 4 Tbsp paprika, 2 Tbsp salt, 2 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp black pepper, 2 Tbsp onion powder, 1 1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper, and 2 tsp thyme. Shake it up to mix everything together.

Put two chicken breasts in the bag and shake to coat. Seal well and hold in the fridge overnight.


Before grilling, scrape off some of the rub so it's not all caked on. Grill on high to sear each side, then lower the temp and cook through. Once cooked, pull from the grill and bring inside.


Once the chicken has rested for a few minutes, shred using two forks. I left the pieces in bite sized portions. I didn't want it *too* shredded. Set aside.


Mince one shallot.

Mince 3-4 cloves garlic.


Take a jar of roasted red peppers and drain completely. Roughly chop the peppers.


This is the pasta I used. You can use fettuccine or any kind you want.


Bring salt water to a boil and cook the whole box of pasta for 12-14 minutes. Once cooked, drain well.

While that cooks we're going to make the sauce.


Heat 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.


Add the shallot, garlic, and peppers. Cook over medium heat and let them sweat for about 5 minutes. You don't want the heat too high. Sauteing (like I usually do) seals in the flavor. Sweating the garlic and shallots releases and mellows the flavor. That's what we want!


Season with a little salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Don't use too much pepper! You want a little heat, not too much.


After those 5 minutes, put everything into a blender. Put the lid on and start blending.


Make sure you're careful with this step! Slowly add a pint of cream through the top hole. Make sure you keep the cap on and drizzle that cream in because it will shoot up at you.


Pour the sauce back into the skillet and put over low heat to reheat a little.


Grate about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.


Add the cooked pasta and parmesan to the sauce and toss everything together well.


Add the shredded chicken. Toss well.


Chop a little parsley and add to the pan. Toss well again.

Plate up and garnish with a little more grated parmesan and a sprig of parsley.

Thank you Celeste for the email and I hope your family enjoys this dish as much as we did. It's definitely going to be made again and again here! If you're low carbing like I'm doing, you can just leave out the pasta on your plate. The chicken and sauce are great by themselves.

Serve with salad.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_107dr5m2mcg