Cajun Pasta

I went to New Orleans two weeks ago. I started eating sea food a few months ago and I was on a food quest in New Orleans. I tried it all – seafood jambalaya, gumbo (at Mother’s), Cajun shrimp, shrimp and crawfish etouffe, beignets (at Café Du Monde) etc. I had two great versions of shrimp and grits – one was at Café Amelie’s and the other at some restaurant in Bourbon Street. The first dish was shrimp and grits served with a spicy corn maque choux. The second dish was a combination of fried green tomatoes, grits, and shrimps served in a spicy butter sauce. The tomatoes and grits were layered over each other, in a pool of buttery sauce, with the shrimps at the side. Another great meal was a brunch at John Besh’s Luke where everything was cooked to perfection. I ordered an omelet with a filling of crabmeat, mushroom, peppers, and fromage blanc. Served with lacy potato chips called gaufrettes.

I bought some Cajun seasoning from an obscure store. The woman at the counter asked me to smell it and added that her partner made the blend. It was divine. So here I am back in San Francisco with this liovely Cajun seasoning and a quest for recipes, which will bring out the best of this spice blend.


1 pound of fettuccine
3 Tspn Cajun seasoning
Black pepper
1 cup of heavy cream
Parsley
Vegetables
1 large red pepper
1 large green pepper
1 red onion
5 cloves of garlic
3 Roma tomatoes
Meats
1 breast chicken
1-2 sausages

Boil the water, add salt, and cook the fettuccine. It should take 10-11 minutes.
Cut the onions and bell pepper into strips. Dice the tomatoes. Mince the garlic.
Cube the chicken and sprinkle Cajun seasoning on top of it. In addition, slice the sausages.
Heat the oil and brown the chicken and sausages. Remove the meat.
The flame should be on high. Add the garlic, pepper, and onions. After a few minutes, add the tomatoes. Add 2 Tspn Cajun seasoning and salt.
When the vegetables are soft, remove them from the pan.
Add some water to the pan and boil, to concentrate the flavors of the vegetables and meat in the water.
Now add the cream. Add loads of black pepper. Add the vegetables. Stir the sauce.
Add pasta to the sauce and cook it for a while. Let the pasta rest for at least 5-8 minutes after cooking to absorb the sauce. Garnish with parsley.