Anyone who has tried this Cajun Chicken Pasta, absolutely loves it and I’m certain you will too! It’s everything I want from a pasta dish – saucy, cheesy, creamy with a little kick of heat. And what’s more, it comes together in no time at all!
Ingredients:
- 200g chicken cubed
- Olive oil and butter mix
- 2 small onions diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1.5 tsp cajun seasoning, 1.5 tsp smoked paprika, kashmiri chilli powder,
- 1 tsp peri peri salt, 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 sugar
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 200g tinned cherry tomatoes
- 200ml double cream
- 100 grams uncooked pasta
- 50g to 100g grated mature cheddar cheese
Method:
– Cook the pasta as to packet instructions. I use conchiglie pasta as it holds the sauce better.
– Heat up some olive oil and butter in a pan and saute the onions and garlic until soft. The heat should be medium.
– Add the chicken pieces and cook just until it changes colour.
– Once the colour changes, add in all the herbs and seasonings apart from the chilli powder.
– Stir this into the chicken and cook until the oil separates from the chicken and spices.
– Pour in the can of cherry tomatoes and stir gently.
– Turn the heat up, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
– Pour in the cream and stir through on medium heat for about 2 minutes.
– Add the chilli powder and sugar and cook for a further 1 minute.
– Now the sauce is ready, add your cooked pasta along with 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Cook on high for 3 minutes, stirring often. Then cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
– Finish off by adding grated mature cheddar all over the top, letting it melt into the pasta.
Tips:
- If you can’t find or don’t have conchiglie pasta, use a pasta shape that can hold the sauce well.
- Using chicken thigh pieces will give you a more succulent bite of chicken.
- You can adjust the chilli powder to preference. I like kashmiri chilli powder as it isn’t too spicy and gives a beautiful colour.
- Using the cooker pasta water will help the sauce to bind to the pasta and give a more luxurious saucy pasta.