I really enjoy cooking an easy pasta dish that's packed full of flavour and comes out so satisfying and delicious after barely any effort and with minimum washing up, who wouldn't?! I am also a fan of cooking from scratch and making my own sauces and flavours rather than buying jars. It's healthier to do, and once you have certain herbs and spices in your cupboard, you can make so many things easily!!

So with all of the below spices in my cupboard, it was easy for me to make a Cajun spice mix that actually tasted authentic. All you need is onion granules, garlic granules, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika. Yes I know you can probably buy a ready made Cajun spice mix but as I say, these herbs and spices will go towards many more recipes and I think it's fun doing it from scratch! Here's my full recipe below.

Ingredients (for 2 people);

  • Cajun Seasoning - 2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp garlic granules, 1/2 onion granules, 1/4 cayenne pepper, salt & pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 120g penne pasta
  • 200g chopped tomatoes
  • 200ml chicken stock
  • 30g light cream cheese
  • 2 spring onions, sliced

Method (Approx 25 mins prep & cooking time in total);

  1. Combine all of the Cajun spice ingredients into a large bowl. Cut up your chicken breasts (I usually use kitchen scissors for this) into small bite-size pieces and put straight into the bowl of mixed spices. Give everything a good mix to coat the chicken evenly.
  2. Add some olive oil and the butter to a large, deep skillet or frying pan (with a lid) on a medium-high heat until the pan is hot and the butter has melted and is foamy. Add the seasoned chicken to the pan and stir fry to give it some colour on all sides. It doesn't need to be cooked through at this point.
  3. Add the diced onion to the pan and fry for a few minutes until starting to soften. Give the pan a scrape with the spoon and mix up any of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with the moisture from the onion.
  4. Next, add the past, chopped tomatoes and chicken stock to the pan. Stir everything up and place the lid on. Bring to the boil then lower the heat to a simmer.
  5. Let everything simmer for approx 10 minutes giving it a few stirs, until the pasta is tender and the liquid is thick and saucy.
  6. Add in the cream cheese and stir until it melts into the sauce. Serve up the Cajun chicken pasta into pasta bowls and top with the sliced spring onions, some black pepper and chilli flakes.
  7. Enjoy!

Another winning pasta dish. Please give my recipe a go and let me know what you think.

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Happy munching!

🙂

Jen

@jensfoodblog

#jensfoodblog

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