Tag: pasta

Cajun Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Oh, man!  We had an awesome dinner tonight.  I don’t know how it even popped into my head, but while I was trying to decide what to make for dinner I thought back to a delicious pasta dish I had at Chili’s a while back and decided to recreate it.  I didn’t remember exactly what ingredients were in the dish, but I knew it was some sort of Cajun chicken fettuccine alfredo.  So this is my take on it.

Here’s what you’ll need:

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

fettuccine pasta

Emeril’s Original Essence seasoning (recipe below, in case you don’t have the pre made version)

  • 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme

roasted red peppers (found on the same grocery aisle as pickles, banana peppers, etc.)

your favorite alfredo sauce (since I was adding roasted red peppers to the dish, I decided on some alfredo sauce with some red peppers already mixed in)

I don’t think you could ask for a recipe with more simple ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Liberally sprinkle Emeril’s Original Essence on chicken.  If you’re wondering why there is only one large chicken breast while the rest are chicken tenders, it is because when I brilliantly decided to make this dish I didn’t realize that I only had one normal sized chicken breast left until I had already gotten all my other ingredients together.  So the only other option was my chicken tenders in the freezer.  It actually worked out better though, because the chicken tenders chop up quicker. 🙂

Now, if you are feeling extra frisky and spicy, get out your cayenne pepper and pour a little in the palm of your hand.  In case you’re wondering, I did not use this much cayenne pepper.  If I had, I’m pretty sure my mouth would still be on fire.  A little goes a long way with cayenne pepper, so you should pour it in your hand first and then sprinkle it on using your other hand.  That way, you won’t mistakenly dump half the container on your chicken.

This is how much I sprinkled onto my chicken.  You can add more or less depending on how spicy you want it.  Or you can just omit it all together if you don’t like spiciness, like my friend Elizabeth.

Learned that one the hard way.  She and her fiance, Rustin, came over for dinner one night and I made my Jambasta (which is a Rachael Ray Jambalaya recipe using pasta instead of rice).  I did not know at the time that she was not a fan of spicy foods.  Now if you’ve ever had Jambalaya, you know that it is really spicy.  So when we sat down to dinner, she took one bite and that was enough for her.  I had to find her something else to eat quickly, and like an idiot, I gave her our left over Fulin’s Lo Mein from the night before.  But I had forgotten that we had asked for it extra spicy.  Sigh….another fail on my part.  She ended up eating a bagel for dinner.  Not one of my best moments.

Put the chicken in a hot pan seasoned side down.

Season the other side of the chicken the same way as the first side.

Cook chicken on the first side for about 3 minutes.  You want the pan to be pretty hot so that it blackens the seasoning.  Turn chicken over and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Then, place the entire pan into your preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

Meanwhile, place the fettuccine pasta in some boiling water.  I used linguine since I didn’t have any fettuccine, but you can use whatever you have.

Pour alfredo sauce into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat.

Place 3 roasted red peppers on a cutting board.  You may want to dry them off on a paper towel first, as they can be quite wet out of the can.

Chop into a small dice.

Throw peppers into a small skillet and heat over medium high heat.

Take chicken out of the oven and let rest on a cutting board.  You don’t want to cut into meat when it is fresh out of the oven, grill, or skillet.  Let it rest for a few minutes to let the juices redistribute.

Drain pasta and toss it into the pan that the chicken just came out of.

Throw the peppers in and mix around so that all the yummy drippings from the pan are coating the pasta.  Talk about flavor!  Why let it go to waste?

Pour heated alfredo sauce over pasta and mix well.

Cut chicken into bite sized strips.  This is why the chicken tenders came in handy. 🙂

Place pasta on a place and lay chicken strips on top.  Doesn’t that look delish!?

If you are feeling especially dangerous…..as I clearly was…..pour some left over alfredo sauce on top of the chicken.  Yum!  My tummy is happy.  As are my taste buds.  I know yours will thank you as well.

Easy Peasy Spaghetti & Meatballs

When I was little, spaghetti was the first thing I learned how to make.  It’s probably one of the easiest meals you can make.  Just boil some water, add the pasta, and cook until al dente.  Back then I liked my spaghetti topped with only butter and Parmesan cheese.  Marinara sauce was nasty to my young taste buds.  Luckily I’ve expanded my palate since then, and I decided that tonight I should go back to the days of my youth and make spaghetti and meatballs.

Here’s what you’ll need:

spaghetti noodles

1lb ground beef (or your ground meet of choice…turkey is a healthy option)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 whole eggs

salt & pepper

your favorite pasta sauce (normally I would have made my own from scratch, but Steve and I were super hungry, so I just decided on the quick store bought version)

Start by putting your ground beef (or meat of choice) into a medium bowl.

Add the minced garlic.  Garlic belongs in just about everything as far as I’m concerned….except dessert probably.

Add the bread crumbs.  I used Italian bread crumbs that were already pre-packaged.  You can make your own bread crumbs by finely chopping a few bread slices in a food processor.

Next comes the Parmesan cheese!  If you have freshly grated cheese that would be best, but since the only fresh grated cheese I had was cheddar, I opted for the store bought Parmesan in a can.  I love finding the large clumps and popping them in my mouth.  Yum!  Takes me back to the days when I was a youngster in my mom’s kitchen.

Add the eggs and the salt and pepper.

Then get your hands all grody and squish and mix that bowl’s contents until everything is thoroughly combined.  I always have trouble with this because the meat is so cold that I can’t keep my hand in there for long periods of time without freezing my fingers off.

Next pre-heat your oven to 400° and get out a large cookie sheet.  Roll the meat into 2 inch balls.  You can adjust the size depending on how big you want your meatballs.  Then pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Now boil some water in a large pot.  This was the pot that burned my wrist the other night!  Bad pot!  To see the picture of my burned wrist click here and scroll to the very last picture.

Toss in some spaghetti noodles.  In my case, Dreamfields Pasta, which is a low carb pasta.  5 net carbs per serving.  Can’t beat it!  For those of you on a low carb diet, this will really help with the carb cravings.  You can usually find at least a couple variety of pasta shapes in this brand at your local grocery store.  You  can also visit their website: Dreamfields Pasta

Here’s where we cheat and use pre-made pasta sauce.  Shhh…don’t tell The Pioneer Woman!

Heat sauce in, what else? — a sauce pan!

Drain pasta when al dente (when it still has a little bit of a bite to it….not completely soft and smooshy), and add it back to the pot.

Pour sauce over pasta, but make sure to reserve some to pour on top when everything is plated.

Toss to coat everything evenly.

Remove your meatballs from the oven.  See how the cheese is oozing out of them?  Yum!

Add spaghetti to a plate and place several meatballs on top.  Then use your reserved pasta sauce to cover the meatballs.  Sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and you are good to go!  Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese

pa lottery

What kid doesn’t like some Mac & Cheese?  I probably only had it a handful of times growing up, and never at my house (my mom liked to make sure I ate healthy and I thank her for it), but that doesn’t mean that the few times I had it I didn’t thoroughly enjoy myself…..cuz I did!  This is a nice adult twist to that kid favorite….courtesy of Rachael Ray.  Side note: if you don’t know who Rachael Ray is you’re missing out.  She’s got some amazing recipes that you can check out on foodnetwork.com.

To start, drizzle some Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or EVOO as RR likes to say)

 

Next cut your chicken breasts into bite sized pieces by cutting strips down the length of the breast, and then cutting those strips into nice little cubes.

 

Place diced chicken into the pan and season with salt and pepper.

 

After chicken has cooked a couple minutes, chop up a small onion (or a quarter of an onion like me since I’m not a big fan of onions) and add it to the chicken.  Let chicken and onions cook together for a few more minutes, then turn off the heat and reserve.

 

While chicken is cooking, boil some water in a large soup pot.  When you have the water boiling, throw in some salt and your favorite pasta.  I would normally use elbow or macaroni pasta since this is “Mac & Cheese” but for low carb purposes, I elected to use my 5 net carb penne pasta.

 

When pasta is almost done cooking to “al dente” chop up some broccoli and add it in with the pasta.

 

Now comes the fun part.  The making of the cheesy sauce!  Start by adding 3 tbsp of butter to a large sauce pan.  That’s right you heard me!  Say “yes” to the butter!

 

Next, add 3 tbsp of flour, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, and 1 tsp of paprika.

 

 

Whisk until thoroughly combined.  This is creating a roux which will help thicken up our cheesy sauce.

 

Add 3 cups of milk to the roux, and stir to combine.

 

Turn stove on high to bring to a quick boil, then turn down to low and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

 

Next, grate up some sharp cheddar.  There are not many things better than freshly grated cheddar.  It puts a smile on my face.

 

Add about 3 cups of cheddar to the sauce and stir to melt it all in so it’s nice and ooy gooy.

 

Look at that yummy cheesy sauce!

 

Add 1 tbsp of dijon mustard (I know….I don’t like it either but it makes the sauce have a nice tang to it) and stir until combined.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Now it’s time to combine everything!  Drain your broccoli and pasta and add it back to the pot, along with the chicken.  Then pour a nice helping of cheesy sauce all over everything and stir it around so that every morsel gets coated in the cheesy goodness.

 

 

Put it on a plate, or eat it straight out of the pot!  Either way it will make for some yummy in your tummy!