Johnny's Cajun Pasta
A Cajun Pasta dish with chicken, shrimp, and andouille sausage. This is a remake of a dish we enjoyed at a restaurant in Dallas, TX (Johnny Orleans) that closed in January of 2002. It took us over 20 years to recreate it. This is as close to it as we can remember.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta penne or rotini are good choices, something that can hold the sauce well
Proteins and Seasonings:
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into ¼" - slices
- 3 teaspoons cajun Seasoning adding more to taste
- 1 pound andouille sausage ¼ " - slices
- 1 pound shrimp medium, peeled, and deveined
- 1 pound Crawfish tails optional
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
Vegetables for sauce
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and sliced into ¼" strips
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and sliced into ¼" strips
- 1 orange and/or yellow bell pepper optional, seeded and sliced into ¼" strips
- 1 whole jalapeño peppers optional, sliced into ¼" rounds, add another for more heat
- 1 medium red onion halved and cut into half moon ½" strips
- 4 Roma tomatoes diced OR 1 14oz can of diced tomatoes (I prefer fire-roasted tomatoes)
Additional Sauce Ingredients
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper to taste plus some for sprinkling plus some for garnish
- 2 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce or your preferred hot sauce. Additional to taste.
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salt
Garnishes
- Fresh Parsley chives, or green onion tops
Instructions
- Bring 2 quarts salted water to boil in pot for cooking pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain when the pasta is still al dente; do not overcook! Set pasta aside. Meanwhile, sprinkle 1 ½ teaspoons of the cajun seasoning (or more) over the chicken. Toss around to coat evenly.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy pot over high heat until foaming subsides. Add enough chicken in a single layer without crowding the pan. Cook chicken for 1 minute, without stirring, then stir and cook until no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken to a bowl with a slotted spoon and reserve (leaving the juices behind). Repeat the process with the remaining chicken until all the chicken has been browned, adding more butter and oil if needed. Add more butter and oil if need, Repeat the same process in the same (unwashed) pan with the andouille sausage slices. Remove and reserve (same bowl as the chicken).
- Lower heat to medium and melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil, once heated, add the peppers, onion, and garlic. Sprinkle in the remaining Cajun Seasoning (or more). Add salt and pepper as needed. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occassionally, adjusting heat as needed to soften and brown the vegetables. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove all vegetables from the pan and reserve. With the pan still over medium high heat, pour in the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze (all the bits are goodness). Add the cream, stir to combine, then add chicken broth, and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes total.
- Cook the sauce over medium-low heat for a 3 to 4 minutes, until the cream starts to thicken the mixture. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, Louisiana hot sauce, and salt to taste. The sauce should be spicy!
- Add the chicken, andouille sausage, and vegetables back to the sauce, make sure to include all the juices that have drained into the bowl! Simmer over medium heat, stirring occassionally until the mixture comes to a gently boil, about 1 minute. Stir in the (peeled and deveined) shrimp and any other optional seafood. Once the mixture comes to a gently boil add the drained pasta and stir to coat. Remember, if you are making pasta sauce for freezing, hold the pasta back and freeze the sauce without it. See Cooking for Two tips in the post for freezing.Top with your choice of garnishes. Serve.
Notes
For additional flavor, season the whole chicken breasts with the Cajun seasoning and then grill or smoke, then cut up. Turn to the stovetop to pan grill the smoked sausage and vegetables.
NOTE: This recipe is set at 8 servings so that you can freeze the pasta sauce for a weeknight dinner. See notes about freezing the sauce in the Tips and Tricks post section. You can always adjust the servings using the servings button.