Cajun Chicken Tortellini

Often, when I think of a cream sauce, I envision cheese. Like alfredo. I've made some creamy sauces before without cheese (such as a béchamel in Chicken Pot Pie or for Chicken Florentine), but when I see a plate of pasta with some kind of cream sauce, my brain assumes it's got parmesan in there.

This recipe came about from a video on social media, when I saw a fried chicken recipe with a creamy cajun sauce. It got me thinking about an oldie but a goodie I made many moons ago.

So I tried mashing together something new. I opted to skip on breading the chicken, added veggies, and decided to throw some stuffed pasta in there.

I seasoned both sides of two pieces of chicken with a mix of paprika, salt, and pepper, then cooked it in a skillet over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes per side. 

Once that was done, I set the chicken aside and added some thinly sliced onion to the pan with oil. This next step is 100% optional, as you can opt to add all the veggies at once, but I cooked the onions solo for a bit to get them a nice brown color. 

I won't qualify them as perfectly caramelized, but I let the onions cook for about 20 minutes before adding the test of the vegetables. I chose to throw in some garlic, sliced sweet pepper, peas, and mushrooms, but have at it with the veggies of choice. I then tossed in my Cajun seasoning mix.

Next, I got into making the sauce by adding chicken broth and pasta. Small stuffed pasta takes only 5 minutes (or less) to cook, so I heated that to a simmer and let it cook. 

Finally, I stirred in some half and half to thicken it.

I scooped the final results into a bowl and sprinkled some parm on top. Bon appetít!

FANTASTICO! I never imagined this would be such a great dish. But the cream sauce with the tortellini made for magic. I am most certain this would be good with pasta as well, but my oh my the tortellini fit the bill. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and evened out the dish. I was so happy to slaughter this for a few days, and will definitely be adding this one to the repertoire. 5/5.

Cajun Chicken Tortellini Recipe

Ingredients:

For the chicken:
2 chicken breasts

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon avocado oil (or cooking oil of choice)

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1/2 cup onion, sliced thin

1/4 cup chopped sweet pepper

1/4 cup peas (optional)

1/4 cup mushrooms (optional)

1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups chicken broth (I used bouillon cubes)

1/2 cup half and half or milk

1 cup tortellini (or stuffed pasta of choice)

Instructions:

Add 1 tablespoon cooking oil to a skillet. Season both sides of the chicken with paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook for approximately 7 minutes per side on medium-high heat, until fully cooked. Remove from heat and set aside. Add more cooking oil to the pan, then add onion. Caramelize onions, if desired, by cooking on medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and dark in color. Add remaining vegetables and garlic and toss in seasonings. Cook for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened. Add chicken broth and heat to a simmer, then add tortellini and cook about 3-5 minutes. Lower heat to medium low. Slowly stir in half and half. Serve with chicken.