Santa Fe Chicken Pasta (copycat)

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 tablespoons cajun spices (i use tony's creole seasoning or zataran's)
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup green onion, diced
• 2 cups tomatoes, diced (i used 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained)
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 1/2 quarts heavy cream
• 12 ounces roasted red peppers
• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 16 ounces penne pasta
• 6 ounces snow peas
• 6 ounces parmesan cheese, shredded (we just sprinkle on top, like spaghetti)

Recipe

• 1 cook your chicken first.
• 2 to blacken, lightly sprinkle blackening seasoning on both sides of the chicken.
• 3 heat a stainless steel pan over medium-high heat. cook the chicken completely - turning only once.
• 4 hint: you may want to do this on your grill outside because a lot of smoke can be generated.
• 5 slice the chicken into the thin long strips.
• 6 set the chicken aside while you prepare the sauce and noodles.
• 7 in a large pot, start heat your water to a boil in preparation for the pasta.
• 8 in a large stainless saucepan, melt your butter over medium heat.
• 9 while the butter is melting, finely mince the garlic and then add to the pan.
• 10 cook the garlic for two minutes and then add all of the cream.
• 11 stir occasionally while it reduces by half.
• 12 hint: if your garlic turns brown then the pan was too hot - start over, it will be worth it.
• 13 while the cream is starting to reduce, prepare your other ingredients by finely mincing the green onions, cilantro, tomatoes & roasted red peppers - but keep the tomatoes separate.
• 14 stir in the cilantro, green onion & roasted red peppers while it's reducing.
• 15 your cream should be simmering now as it reduces - this process will normally take more than 20 minutes - stir occasionally and keep a watch out for it boiling over.
• 16 boil the pasta, which should take at least 12 minutes.
• 17 clean the snow peas and add them to the cream - if they simmer in the cream for at least 10 minutes they are perfect - cooked through and hot, but still a bit crisp.
• 18 when the pasta is done, the cream should be reduced by half now. the cream's texture should not be thick like alfredo sauce, but not runny like water.
• 19 drain the pasta well! penne pasta is a pain because it holds so much water, but too much left over water will thin out the sauce you worked so hard for.
• 20 put the noodles back in its pot and pour your cream over the noodles.
• 21 add the chicken and stir everything together well.
• 22 serve immediately as this dish is not good as leftovers or once the cream cools.
• 23 spoon out an appropriate amount onto a plate and then sprinkle some diced tomatoes on top - you can also use some left over cilantro sprig as garnish if you like.
• 24 i usually serve this with warm italian bread with soft butter on the side.