Add a little spice to the kitchen!

Last night we had a great meal! Lately I've been having to motivate Matt to let me cook some more "interesting" dishes - he's completely a meat and potatoes and carrots type of guy.

I stumbled upon this recipe and figured I could try and get away with it. Well not only did I love it, Matt did too! The original recipe did not call for Chicken, but since I wanted to add a protein to the meal I added chicken. My changes are in red.

Cajun Pasta Fresca

• 1 - 1 1/2 lbs fresh chicken broiled or blackened
  
• 1 pound vermicelli pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil - I used approx. 1/4 cup since we added chicken and needed the extra moisture.
  
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic - We love garlic, I used 3 cloves (which is much more than 1 tsp)
  
• 13 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped - I used one LARGE can of petite diced tomatoes.
  
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley - I used dried.
  
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. While the pasta water is boiling, in a large skillet over medium heat, briefly saute garlic in oil. Stir in tomatoes and their juice and sprinkle with salt. When tomatoes are bubbly, mash slightly with a fork. Stir in parsley, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes more.
3. Toss hot pasta with tomato sauce, Cajun seasoning, mozzarella and Parmesan.
4. My Adustments: We broiled the chicken - but I suggest trying this recipe with blackened chicken. I would have done it that way, but our gas is out on our grill. Matt did a great job of cutting up the chicken so that it was evenly mixed in with the pasta. Add in the chicken during step 2 (fully cooked); let it simmer with the sauce.
   

The heat was great for Matt, but I went ahead and sprinkled more Cajun seasoning to mine at the table. I used Zatarain's Creole Seasoning for the "cajun seasoning", it was delish!


I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of this yummy pasta, but I definitely recommend it!