Cajun Pastalaya Recipe
Pastalaya, also known as jambalaya pasta, is a creamy Cajun recipe made with chicken, andouille sausage, shrimp, and your choice of farfalle or penne. This recipe is great for a weeknight family dinner and comes together in less than an hour.
Equipment
- Large Pot for boiling pasta
- Large skillet or sauté pan
Ingredients
Creamy Cajun Sauce:
- 1 lb Farfalle pasta
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- ¾ cup Yellow Onion diced
- ¾ cup Green Bell Pepper diced
- ¾ cup Celery diced
- 4 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 1.5 tablespoon Cajun Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Seafood Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Accent
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 10 oz Canned Diced Tomatoes
- 10.5 oz Can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 3-3.5 cups Chicken Broth
Additional Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- ½ lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ lb Andouille Sausage sliced
- ½ lb Medium Shrimp peeled and deveined
Garnish:
- ¼ cup Fresh Parsley chopped
- ¼ cup Fresh Green Onion chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once the pan is smoking hot, add the sliced andouille sausage and begin rendering the fat.
- Remove the cooked sausage and set aside in a bowl.
- In that same pan with those flavorful drippings, add the diced chicken thighs to the pan, adding the cajun seasoning.
- When the chicken is partially cooked through and browned, remove it from the pan. The chicken will cook through at a later time.
- Using the same pan, sauté the holy trinity (onion, green bell pepper and celery) until they’re softened but still have a little bite.
- Then, add the garlic and cook until it’s fragrant, just about a minute.
- Stir in the rest of the seasoning blends, tomato paste, can cream of chicken soup, canned diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, browning seasoning, then pour in the chicken broth and scrape up all those flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Next, stir in the chicken broth, this will act as the liquid agent to cook the pasta.
- Then pour in the pasta and ensure the pasta is submerged in the liquid. Simultaneously, the gravy will begin to form while the pasta cooks and the gravy ingredients cook down.
- Add the chicken and sausage back to the pot, give everything one good toss-again, ensuring the pasta is submerged in the liquid and cook for 20-25 minutes until the pasta is cooked through.
- To finish, when there's about 3-5 minutes left of cooking time, add the shrimp into the pot and let them cook. This ensures the shrimp do not overcook, making them juicy and plump!
- Garnish with chopped parsley, chopped green onion, and a squeeze of lemon or a splash of hot sauce. That final hit of acid really brightens everything up!