Louisiana Cajun Chicken Pasta

I made this last night and just had to share it with y'all.  It's called Louisiana Cajun Chicken Pasta and I found it on Pinterest.  Apparently it's a copycat recipe from something at Cheesecake Factory.  Anyways, it is ridiculously delicious.  The only bad thing is it was a lot of moving pieces at once - working on the sauce while working on the chicken and oh yeah, I'm supposed to be boiling the noodles kind of thing.  It was well worth it though!

I cut this recipe in half and it was still too much for two people - leftovers are always a plus though!


Ingredients:
Cajun Sauce
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
3/4 small onion, chopped
3 whole garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I used cayenne pepper)
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup low sodium chicken broth (I used regular)
4 Tbsp fresh basil (thinly slice)  (I used the dried chopped basil)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12-oz package bow tie pasta

Chicken
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Creole seasoning (Tony's)
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (I crushed up Italian croutons)
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1 cup milk
4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
Cajun Sauce
1. Melt butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add yellow and red bell peppers, and onion to same skillet, until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.
3. Add garlic and crushed red pepper to skillet and sauté 3 minutes.
4. Add whipping cream and chicken stock.
5. Simmer until sauce re-heats and thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
6. Add basil and Parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring to incorporate.
7. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, simmer; sauce will reduce and thicken. (It took a long for it to thicken- almost the length of time until the remaining steps were complete.)

Chicken
8. Wash and drain chicken breasts. Season chicken with creole seasoning.
9. Pound until very thin (the thinner the chicken breasts the better).
10. Mix breadcrumbs, flour, and Parmesan cheese together.
11. Place milk in dish for dipping.
12. Dip chicken in breadcrumb mixture and then in milk and then back in breadcrumbs.
13. Place in fry pan that the oil has been heated and fry at medium high temperature until golden crisp and cooked through. Add more oil as needed.
14. Remove and drain chicken; keep warm.
15. Meanwhile, cook bow-tie pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite.
16. Drain and return to pot.
17. Add sauce and toss to coat.
18. Place pasta with sauce on plate, and top with chicken breast.
19. Serve, passing additional Parmesan separately.

Enjoy!

Jewels*