Cajun Chicken Pasta

Deb Chalk, Marshall County, submitted this dish in the annual Marysville Advocate recipe contest a few years ago and won! It's the perfect dish for Mardi Gras 2017 Fat Tuesday!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients: 1 lb. angel hair pasta 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter 1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips 2 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning 2 red bell peppers, chopped 3 green bell peppers, chopped 3 scallions, chopped Small box of button mushrooms, sliced 4 ½ c. heavy whipping cream ¾ tsp. dried basil ¾ tsp. lemon pepper ¾ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. garlic powder ¼ tsp. fresh ground black pepper ¼ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese Directions: 1. In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 6 minutes, or until al dente. 2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, over medium heat, melt butter. Add chicken slices to skillet and sprinkle both sides of chicken with Cajun seasoning. Sauté chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 7 minutes. 3. Add bell peppers, mushrooms and scallions and cook for 3 minutes. 4. Add heavy cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and pepper to skillet. Cook until sauce thickens slightly. 5. Drain pasta and add to skillet. Toss until coated. Transfer to a serving platter and top with Parmesan cheese.

~~Apron Strings Commentary~~ ~Add the amount of pasta your family desires. Or let each guest put the pasta on their plate and top with the sauce. ~I'm always looking for ways to save time & money... because my local store does not carry scallions and the freshness of the mushrooms is a gamble, I grabbed a bag of frozen red/yellow/green bell peppers with onions (already chopped) and a bag of frozen mushrooms (already sliced). I defrosted them in the micro before adding to the skillet. Not as tasty as the fresh version, but it was pretty darn good. ~I purchased chicken breasts on sale a few weeks ago and slow cooked them. Then I shredded the chicken before freezing. This is a huge time saver if you defrost it and then sauté in step 2 for just long enough to heat it up and infuse the Cajun seasoning. ~This had enough veggies and meat to make it a meal but we added a green salad.