I still remember the first time I had a “cajun” pasta dish. It was my senior year in high school, at Rainforest Cafe in Southern California’s South Coast Plaza mall. At the time, it was a new restaurant chain that rivaled Cheesecake Factory. Being a spicy food junkie, my eyes immediately gravitated towards this dish on the menu – a creamy, spicy dish … that sounds great! And sure enough, it did not disappoint.
Since then, I’ve had different variations of this dish in many restaurants all around the country. I guess my eyes are still drawn to it when I see it on any menu – and it’s never disappoints. Eventually I decided that I need to make this at home since I keep ordering it every where I go, every time I see it. So here we are. Here’s my version of this popular cajun pasta dish.
To save time, I used store-bought cajun seasoning which is easy to find in the spice section of most grocery store. You can of course make your own cajun season blend (typically a combination of paprika, cayenne, onion/garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper), but it was a Wednesday and I am lazy. So store-bought it was. Everything else comes together pretty easily and quickly. If you time it right, you can have you pasta ready by the time the sauce is ready. Just remember to cook your pasta slightly UNDER al dente as it will be mixed in the sauce in the final minutes and the pasta will still continue to cook.
You can use shrimp (or add shrimp) as well – basically anything you’d put in a Jambalaya is going to be a good add. And as for the type of pasta – the world is your oyster! Use any pasta that has a good amount of surface area – fettuccini, parpadelle, farfalle, penne, rigatoni, etc.
ENJOY!
Cajun Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 medium chicken breast (about 1/2 lb)
- 2 links andouille sausage, see notes
- 2 cups bell pepper, red, green, yellow or a combo
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp chili flakes (optional), adjust to taste
- 3/4 cup cream
- 3 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp cajun seasoning (plus a little more to season chicken), see notes
- 1/2 lb pasta, e.g. parpadelle, fettucini, buccatini, farfalle, penne, rigatoni
- chopped parsley, to serve
- grated parmesan, to serve
How I Make It
- Season the chicken breast in a little cajun seasoning on both sides, and cook it in a little oil until both sides and nice and brown. If the chicken isn't 100% cooked through at this point, don't worry. You can finish cooking it in the sauce later as it simmers. Slice the chicken into pieces and set aside.
- Slice the sausage and chop the onion, garlic, bell peppers. Use any color bell pepper or a combination. I like slicing the peppers and then rough chopping some of them for texture.
- In the same pan you cooked the chicken, brown the sausage. Add a little oil if needed. Add onion, bell peppers, garlic and continue to sautee the vegetables until they start to soften. Add chili flakes (if using), cajun seasoning, then cream, cream cheese, and stock. Bring to a simmer. If the chicken is under-cooked from before, add it now to finish cooking it. The sauce will thicken as it simmers, about 5 mins. Taste, and season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Cook your prefered pasta (parpadelle, fettucini, buccatini, farfalle, penne, rigatoni are all excellent for this dish) per package instructions to a little under al dente. Toss the cooked pasta in the sauce until coated. The pasta will continue to cook a couple minutes more in the sauce. This will also help the sauce thicken, as the pasta absorbs the liquid and introduces starch.
- Top with chopped parsley and parmesan, and serve!
Notes
- Andouille sausage is a peppery slightly smoky sausage that is commonly used in New Orleans/Cajun dishes. When I lived in Australia (admittedly some years ago now), this was impossible to find. If you can't find Andouille, you can sub with any sausage you like e.g. chorizo is always good 🙂 !
- You can use any cajun seasoning you want (make you own blend or store-bought). You can even use Creole seasoning, which also works well.
- If using store bought cajun seasoning, be careful about adding salt as some store bought variety have salt in it.
