Cajun Chicken Pasta tasty main dish for Kats

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Joe Riddle, friend, co-worker and frequent Idea Alley contributor, passed along this recipe.

“I ate this fantastic pasta over the weekend. It is from Susan Turnbo (one of the best cooks I’ve ever known),” Riddle says.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

12 ounces penne pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup white onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon paprika powder

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper

1 ½ pounds chicken breast tenders, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly shredded

1 cup heavy cream

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

¼ cup chicken broth Parsley for garnish, optional

Boil 6 cups of water with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over high heat and cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain pasta, rinse with cold water and set aside. While pasta cooks, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, butter and onion to a large pot over medium-high heat and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

Add bell pepper, garlic, Cajun seasoning, basil, paprika, ground black pepper, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine and cook for 3 more minutes or until the bell pepper starts to become soft.

Add chicken and stir and cook for another 6-8 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Add parmesan, heavy cream, cream cheese and chicken broth and stir and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken and cream cheese has fully melted.

Add the cooked and drained pasta and stir to coat pasta with sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then serve with freshly chopped parsley on top, if desired.

Makes 6 large servings.

REQUESTS

As we close out 2021, I wanted to put out one last call for the following recipes. These requests have all appeared in Idea Alley over the past year, but didn’t receive any responses.

■ Chicken 1620 from Restaurant 1620 (and Alouette’s before that), which closed several years ago. According to our archives the dish was “thinly sliced chicken breast sauteed with mushrooms and finished with Madeira,” for Karen Branton. Also for Branton, Chicken Prego from the also-closed Cafe Prego. A review in our archive described the menu favorite as “a baked pasta dish with chicken and fettuccine in a creamy tomato sauce and baked beneath a not-too-thick layer of cheese.”

■ Crisp broccoli in creamy sauce like that on the buffet table at Panda Garden in Little Rock for Rhonda Sweat of Alexander. “It is topped with cheese but is not a typical broccoli with cheese casserole. I think it may be keto-diet-friendly,” Sweat writes.

■ Fish coating like that at Lassis Inn in Little Rock for Joseph Atkins of Atlanta.

■ Fried chicken like that at John Noah’s restaurant in Pine Bluff for Kitty Rubenstein.

■ Salsa like that at Bleu Monkey Grill in Hot Springs for Sam Ivy. “It has a great flavor but something gives it a dark red color that I can’t figure out,” Ivy writes.

■ Chicken tinga, shredded chicken in red sauce for Trish Walters.

■ Chicken and Hearts of Palm soup like that served at Cafe Bossa Nova for Linda Williams.

■ Ginger cookies like those sold at Boulevard Bread Co. in Little Rock for Brad Hudgens.

Email recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to: kbrant@adgnewsroom.com