Boston and Ree's Cajun Chicken Pasta

My previous post asked you, dear readers, to guess where DH and I went for our first experimental vacation with baby B.

*Ding ding ding*!!! For those of you who guessed "Boston" you win the prize - i.e. bragging rights about how smart and well-traveled you are! As for the rest of you, today you're going to learn a wee bit of trivia. Boston happens to be the birthplace of America's independence, so it's got a lot for all you history buffs to enjoy. It also has Hahvahd (Harvard University) and MIT within spitting distance of each other, so my geeky academic type buddies can get their freak on. Finally, I love the food there, no matter what the internet reviews say, so fellow foodies can look forward to some big-time dear-God-this-is-good moments.

For instance, I'm very excited to share such a moment with you right now ...

See this? For many of you, this looks like something your cat would eat. WRONG! This is a divine, sublime, crave-worthy pasta dish that rocked my world. It's handmade squid-ink pasta simply cooked with ground-up grilled calamari and drizzled with olive oil. And I'm going to cry because I want it now, and there's no way for me to drive up to Boston again to get it! That pasta was perfectly al dente - chewy and earthy and perfectly seasoned. Every bite was a revelation. If you go to Boston, go to this Sicilian seafood place called The Daily Catch (their new location on the pier is fantastic) and order the Black Pasta Aglio Olio. They also happen to serve some other superb seafood, and the atmosphere is lovely, as is the service. But screw all that, I'd go back for that pasta even if it was served by dirty little gremlins!

In the meantime, I can only drown my sorrows in another pasta dish. This one I can make at home, and enjoy sharing with DH. I've noticed that Ree and I share the same taste in pasta, and so I've got another winner from her repertoire. Can't wait to share this with other P-Dub fans on the next Foodie Fans of The Pioneer Woman round-up.

Ree's Cajun Chicken Pasta (find her original take here)
Serves 4-6

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lb fettuccine pasta
3+ tsp Cajun Spice seasoning (I just kept adding and tasting as I went along)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 green capsicum, sliced
1 red capsicum, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
3 tsp minced garlic
4 small tomatoes, diced
2.5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp cayenne pepper / chili powder
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Chopped parsley or cilantro for garnish

Method:

1. Sprinkle 2 tsp of the cajun spice mix over the chicken pieces, then toss to coat. Heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of the oil in a pan and brown the chicken over high heat. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Add the remaining oil and butter into the same pan, then saute the peppers, onion and garlic with more cajun seasoning, along with some salt. Do this over high heat because you want the veggies to really caramelize and start to get dark (flavor!). 3. Add tomatoes and cook for an additional 30 secs. Pour in the chicken stock now, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the sticky bits incorporated into the sauce. Cook for 5-10 mins.

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour in the cream. Keep whisking the saucing, and sprinkling in the spices per your taste. A dash more salt, lots of black pepper, and some chili powder too. 5. Add the chicken back, and continue to stir the sauce until the whole thing reaches a consistency you like - I just wait for the sauce to be able to coat the back of my wooden spoon.

6. Cook your pasta per the instructions on the box. Drain it and add it directly into the pan with the sauce. Turn off the heat, then toss the pasta, coating it completely with that awesome sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley/cilantro and serve.

Verdict: Guess what? No cheese needed with this pasta! You're surprised because usually all my pasta dishes are smothered in cheesy goodness - and there's nothing wrong with that! But this time, I've got a dish that's a crowd-pleaser as well as a me-pleaser. Lots of vegetables and lean protein made oh-so-delectable thanks to a zingy sauce and gorgeous pasta. This pasta comes DH-approved, so you know I'm going to be making this again and again. And again. My Nintendo Wii Fit virtual instructor is not going to like seeing that spike in my BMI again. But you can't stop love, and I love this.I think I'm also going to submit this carby work of art to the next round-up of Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by the lovely Ruth of Once Upon A Feast.