Chicken New Orleans Pasta (Birthday week 2/7)

Another fan favorite, this time courtesy of my Uncle/cousin who first made it for me. Sweet and spicy sauce with a big Cajun kick of flavor. Easily customizable to your level of spice tolerance and honestly, other than the breading of the chicken, really easy and quick.

1-2 lbs of angel hair pasta, cooked and strained

Breading (in 3 separate bowls)

Bowl 1: ~2 cups flour

Bowl 2: 4 large eggs, beaten

Bowl 3: ~3 cups bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to each bowl

To bowl with bread crumbs: 2 tsp Cajun seasoning, 2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne, and 1/4 C shredded or grated parmesan

3 medium-large chicken breasts (~2-3 lbs), cubed in ~ 1 inch cubes

Corgi supervisor is optional but recommended

Sauce

1 bottle (~3 cups) of chardonnay (or other dry-ish white wine)

2 C chicken stock

4 cloves garlic, minced

5 scallions (aka green onions), chopped (separate whites and greens)

2 Tbsp Cajun seasoning

2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp garlic powder

Bread your chicken cubes in order from flour --> Eggs --> Bread crumbs making sure to coat well. Meanwhile, in a small pot, combine wine and chicken stock and heat over low/medium heat. In a large pan fry up your breaded chicken in olive oil (use regular not extra virgin). ). The garlic and whites of your scallions go in now until fragrant and soft. You may need to work in batches if you don't have a very large pan (if you do just add all the chicken back to the pan before you add in your liquid

Spoiler alert: your next step is to slowly add in the stock/wine combination in 2-3 doses (think like you're making risotto and allow to slightly thicken between additions) and then the seasoning. Combine well and allow to simmer approximately 15-20 minutes or until it is desired consistency. Add in half your scallion greens and heat through (about 5 minutes). Serve over angel hair pasta in a bowl and top with some more scallion greens.

Tips & Tricks

1. Quick and dirty version: use pre-breaded chicken cubes (note: I've never used this brand but wanted to give an example) or leftover popcorn chicken (or real chicken nuggets). All other instructions should be the same (except you may have to add a thickening agent, like cornstarch, if the coating sticks on too much and doesn't self-thicken the sauce) but it saves time breading chicken.

2. 2 tsp cayenne in the recipe makes this approximately equivalent to most places "mild-medium" wings. 1 Tbsp would be more like a medium-hot wing while 1.5 Tbsp would be a "hot" wing

3. Haven't tried it but this might be good over penne instead of angel hair

4. Bella likes the pasta mixed in or dipped in the sauce before serving (instead of just serving the sauce on top of the pasta. Hers is the bowl on top, mine is on bottom.