Monday, November 21, 2011

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Source: this site, via Pinterest

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
4 ounces linguine, cooked al dente (I used spaghetti (a whole 1 lb package) because that's what I had)
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (I made my own using this recipe)
2 Tablespoons butter or oil, for frying
1-2 cups heavy whipping cream (I used 1/2 cup 2% milk + 1 cup "homemade heavy cream" substitute - just melt ~1/4 cup butter and add 3/4 cup milk (and 1 Tablespoon flour to thicken it up if you used low-fat milk) and stir it all up ... works like a dream*)
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes (didn't have any so just left them out - but I'm sure they would be tasty!)
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 green pepper, diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper (I accidentally added 1/4 teaspoon, and it was definitely peppery, but not in a bad way)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (I used fresh minced garlic)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat, add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and simmer for a couple minutes to thicken everything up.  (We even added a little sprinkling of flour to help the thickening process.) Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

Notes:
This was a random recipe I found and pinned on Pinterest one day because I thought it sounded good and different.  Well, I'm sure glad I turned to my cookbook board today when I was wondering what to make for dinner.  It was delicious!  Basically it's chicken alfredo with a little bit of a kick.  Don't worry, though; it's not spicy.  Just yummy.  And surprisingly quick to come together.  We'll be making this one again - especially since I have a bunch of Cajun seasoning left!

*thanks to about.com for this substitution trick! (I really love Google.)

No comments:

Post a Comment