Hewes Family Fun

Last week, I was looking through the fridge, trying to figure out what to make with the chicken breasts that I had defrosted. None of the usual suspects sounded good, and then I remembered I has seen a video with a recipe for Cream Cajun pasta. I couldn’t find the video again, so I decided to wing it.

It’s super tasty, quick, and easy.

Creamy Cajun Pasta

Ingredients:

• 2 T. AP Flour
• 4 T. Cajun/Creole seasoning, divided
• 2 large chicken breasts, slices in half (or 4 chicken breast tenders)
• 2T. Olive or grapeseed oil, divided
• 2T. butter, divided
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I used a purple onion)
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 2 small zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 large tomatoes diced, or 1 can (about 15oz) diced tomatoes drained
• 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
• 1T. corn starch
• 1/2 block cream cheese
• 1 cup milk (I used whole milk if you want it extra thick and creamy use heavy cream)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 lb. package of your choice of pasta, cooked per package instructions, reserve 1/4 cup cooked pasta water.

Directions:

1. Mix flour and 2T of the Cajun seasoning in a shallow dish.
2. Coat chicken breasts in flour/spice mixture.
3. In a large skillet, heat half the butter and oil. Once the butter is melted, add chicken breasts. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side, allowing a light golden crust to form on each side of the breast.
4. Once chicken breasts are golden brown on each side, remove from pan and set aside.
5. Add remaining butter and oil.
6. Saute onions, celery, and bell peppers in oil/butter until the onions are translucent, about 5-10 minutes.
7. Add in the tomatoes and cook covered for about 5-10 minutes.
8. While tomatoes are cooking mix stock and cornstarch to create a slurry. This mixture will thicken the sauce.
9. Once the tomatoes have cooked and broken down, add the stock slurry, milk, and cream cheese. Stir and break down the cream cheese as it melts so there are no lumps. Add in the remaining Cajun Seasoning.
10. Add back in the chicken breasts, and add in the zucchini, turn the heat down to low, and cook covered for about 5-10 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender.
11. Mix in the remaining cheese, and taste. Add more Cajun Seasoning as desired. We added black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste (about 1 teaspoon each).
12. Stir in reserved pasta water, and cooked pasta. Allow the entire dish to cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Serve topped with parmesan cheese if desired. This was an amazing dinner and it was done in less than an hour. I had prepped all the veggies ahead of time. I do about 2 hours worth of meal prep each week, including chopping veggies on Monday afternoons after the CSA box arrives.

Allergy variations:

• To make this dish gluten-free, use Gluten Free AP flour, and gluten-free pasta.
• To make this dish dairy free, use dairy-free milk, cream cheese, and parm.
• This dish is not vegetarian or vegan.