Saturday, September 28, 2019

Grilled Jerk Shrimp and Chicken Rasta Pasta


Hey guys!!!  It feels so good to be back in the blogging biz!!!  Whew...life has truly been busy for me and my family. Been through a lot of rough times but I'm pushing my way through.  I have truly missed you guys and looking forward to enjoying some great meals with you all.

Guess who also has her own YouTube channel now y'all!  Your very own...Jill's Comfort Zone!!!  Yay! Yay! Yay!  I just started so bare with me.  I'm new to the whole video arena.  So please go to my channel and like, share, and comment on my video.  And don't forget to subscribe to stay tuned to more Jill's Comfort Zone's delicious meals.

Well today I am bringing to you a newly tried recipe.  Today I am sharing this Grilled Jerk Chicken and Shrimp Rasta Pasta dish.  You can choose any type of protein that you like...steak, oxtails, lamb you name it.  I've heard so much about this Rasta Pasta from my family and friends in New York and I just had to try it for myself.  I made this last Monday and my family truly enjoyed it.  As you all know, measurements is not my thing but I'm gonna try my best with this recipe.  I'm an eye baller folks!  HaHa!  In the ingredients picture above crushed red pepper flakes, green pepper and chicken bouillon are missing.  I also decided not to use the dried jerk seasoning.  With this dish I made grilled corn on the cob with a Herb Cajun Garlic Butter and a salad.  Dinner was truly amazing!  I will be making this a part of my frequent meals in my home from now on.


Ingredients (The seasonings listed here is mainly for the veggies mixture.)

* 3 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
* 1 lb jumbo shrimps
* 1 box penne pasta
* 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 green pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 orange pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 large onion, thinly sliced
* 5 pieces of a garlic clove, minced
* Extra-virgin Olive Oil for sautéing
* 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1 tsp jerk seasoning


Chicken and Shrimp seasoning (Since I am allergic to shellfish, I seasoned these separately and used the same amounts for both proteins.  Maybe a little less of the shrimps depending on how many pounds you have.)

* 2 Tbsps of jerk seasoning
* 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
* Kosher Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
* 1 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 Tbsp chicken bouillon (Do not add to the shrimps)
* 1 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
* 1 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
* 1 Tbsp Herb d' Provence
* 1/2 Tbsp paprika
* 1/2 tsp dried thyme (Fresh thyme is recommended but I didn't have any on hand.)
* 1/2 tsp dried fennel
* a pinch of red pepper flakes


Cream Mixture

* Heavy Whipping Cream
* Approximately 1 1/2 cup of Italian blended cheese (I just added until I got the consistency that I wanted for the creamy sauce.  You don't want it too thick.  Just thick enough to have a lightly creamy coating on the pasta and protein that you are using for this dish.)
* 1/2 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
* pinch Herb d' Provence
* pinch dried parsley

Instructions:

Wash and clean chicken and shrimps.  Place chicken and shrimps in a bowl and season (add olive oil).  You can place in zip lock bags and marinate for a few hours or over night.

Boil pasta in a pot with some olive oil according to box directions to al dente.  Drain pasta and run under cool water to stop them from cooking and set aside.

Slice onions, peppers and garlic (minced) and set aside.  Season veggies with

Heat up your grill.  I used my indoor/outdoor George Forman grill and sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray.  Grill chicken for about 4 to 5 minutes per side and shrimps about 2 minutes per side.  Remove protein from the grill once chicken is brown and shrimps are slightly reddish pink color then set aside.  Let chicken rest and then cut chicken into bite size bites.

Season the onions and peppers with olive oil, salt, pepper, jerk seasoning.  Heat up some oil in a sauce pan and sauté onions and peppers for about 5 minutes or so.  Add minced garlic and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on low heat in olive oil.  Drain and then set aside.

Return the veggies back to the heated sauce pan.  Slowly pour in about 1 and a half cups of heavy cream and stir.  Add more as needed and keep stirring until the cream starts thickening up.  Taste the sauce to see if it's too your liking.  If not, add a little more seasoning.  Now add in the chicken and Shrimps to the heavy cream and veggie mixture in the pan.  Coat all of the chicken and shrimps well and add in the cheese.  Stir and bring to a simmer on medium low heat.  At this point, if more heavy cream is needed, add, stir and bring back to a simmer.  Add the cheese and the pasta and then stir.  Bring the pan to a simmer on med low heat.  Once the pan comes to a simmer, remove from the heat and serve.

During making this sauce, I had to add the rest of the heavy cream to make enough sauce to coat the chicken, shrimps and pasta.   It all depends on how much chicken and shrimps that you add to your pan.  I didn't use all of the chicken that I grilled for this dish.  I saved the rest to make a grilled chicken salad for lunch another day.

Here's the dish!  I know from the looks of things that it may look like this dish is very spicy and salty but it is not.  Trust me!  Please check out my YouTube video on how to make this lovely dish and you will see that I only added a little bit of salt to this dish.  And the heavy cream brings down the heat from the jerk seasoning.




Enjoy!!!!

Jill's Comfort Zone