Creole Chicken Pasta

After a long day of back pain and watching my toddler, I can honestly say this meal brightened my mood. Not only is it next to effortless to make and barely takes any time to cook, but the flavor is amazing. You can adjust to taste as much as you want but I love the big flavor of the spices. I know I keep saying this but this is one of my favorite meals. You might be able to sub out the heavy cream with half-and-half if you want to save calories, I haven't tried this though. I'm 9 months pregnant, calories are not on my mind at the moment. I won't even tell you the amount of dessert I've been eating lately! :)

I'm glad this was easy to throw together though because towards the end of the day my toddler became a handful. As I was cooking she brought me a bag of white chocolate chips that she wanted to eat, then dumped out a bag of dried chickpeas, which was followed by 1/2 a bag of vermicelli. My back hurt too much to bend down and clean up the vermicelli so this meant that I had the privilege of walking on dried noodles while I cooked. It will be interesting to see what Emmett adds to this mix in about 2 weeks! Ahhh! hehe

Chop up the bell pepper

And chop up the onion

Cook the chicken and set aside

Add the onions to the chicken pan and then the peppers and garlic

Add the chicken back and let the flavors blend

Creole Chicken Pasta
Serving Size = 2 - 3

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into pieces (boneless, skinless)
• About 2 tablespoons of creole spice, to taste - Click here for the spice mix recipe
• 1 tablespoons of butter and some oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Parmesan to taste (I added about 1/4 cup)
• 4 oz fettuccine (cook for about 8 minutes and remember to salt the water a bit for flavor)

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces (mine were about 2 bites each). Toss with the creole seasoning to taste. The pieces should be moderately and evenly coated.
2. Heat a large pan with a tablespoon or two of oil (EVOO will work) over medium heat and add the chicken, cook until cooked through (maybe 15 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside. 
3. Add some oil if needed, and then add about 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the chopped onions and cooked for a few minutes until they start to get tender. 
4. Add the bell pepper and garlic, cook a few more minutes. Add the chicken stock and let it simmer, scraping the bottom for bits and pieces of yummy flavor. After that simmers for a minute, go ahead and add the heavy cream. Stir well and add the chicken back. 
5. Simmer gently until it starts to thicken (5 - 8 minutes, while the pasta is finishing up). Taste and check the seasoning. Add the fettuccine to the pasta and mix well. Add the Parmesan to taste, mix and serve. To make it extra pretty you can add some chopped parsley to the top (I didn't have any).

Linking to: Cast Party Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Mangia Mondays