Louisiana Pasta

One night, I wanted to find a recipe using chicken and shrimp in pasta.  I did a little googling, and found this recipe.  Sweet mercy!  It is amazing.  The original recipe was a copycat of a Johnny Carino's recipe for Spicy chicken and shrimp pasta.  I had never had that, but I did have some Lousiana Pasta at Lucille's recently, and it tasted just like this!  I loved the addition of bell pepper and sausage in the Lucille's dish, so I added them to this recipe.  This is one of my favorite dishes ever.  I've made it for company a few times, and they always want seconds, if I didn't polish it off after third helpings.  This stuff is dynamite!

Louisiana Pasta (Lucille's BBQ Copy Cat Recipe)
source: modified from http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-shrimp-and-chicken-pasta-like-carinos-288012

Serves 6-8
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
3 T butter
20 medium shrimp, thawed (I didn't have any on hand but it's tasty with it)
1/2 lb kielbasa sausage, sliced
1 c mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 c sun-dried tomatoes or freshly diced tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips (I only used red)
salt and pepper, to taste
3 c heavy cream
1/2 c Romano and/or Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2- 1 1/2 t cayenne, depending on your spicy preference
16 oz dry penne pasta

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the diced chicken, sausage, shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, and salt and pepper.  Saute, stirring often, until the mushrooms and shrimp are cooked thoroughly.

Add the cream, Romano or Parmesan, and the cayenne.  The first time I made it, I did the full 1 1/2 t of cayenne.  It was amazing.  My kids thought they were going to breathe fire after taking one bite, so I've toned it down to 1/2 t or less of cayenne.  The dish as Lucille's like this is quite spicy, so I'm sure they would use the full 1 1/2 t of cayenne.

Once it is boiling, reduce to a simmer and let the cream reduce by half.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente by following the directions on the package.  Drain.

If the pasta sauce is still really thin, combine 2 T milk with 2 T corn starch in a small bowl.  Stir to combine.  While stirring the sauce, add the cornstarch mixture slowly.  Let the sauce heat up again, and the mixture should thicken a bit.

Add the drained pasta to the sauce.  Toss to combine.

 You can sprinkle a little more Parmesan on top once it's on the plates.  It's a nice little touch.