Jamaican Rasta Pasta Recipe
Servings 6 people
Rasta Pasta is a Caribbean-style dish that combines sautéed bell peppers with tender pieces of chicken with a creamy pasta cheese sauce! This meal will delight your taste buds with the abundance of flavor packed into it!
Ingredients
- 16 ounces penne pasta
Chicken
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon jerk seasoning
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Veggies
- 1 red bell pepper sliced or chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced or chopped
- 1 green bell pepper sliced or chopped
- ½ cup green onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic paste or 2 cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons jerk seasoning
Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 14 ounces full-fat coconut milk
- 2 cups Parmesan cheese freshly grated, divided - 1 ½ cup in the recipe, ½ cup for garnish
- green onions sliced thin and/or parsley optional garnish
Instructions
- Cook 16 ounces penne pasta in boiling water until al dente or desired tenderness.
- Slice 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts into finger-sized pieces.
- Toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon jerk seasoning. In a Dutch oven, fry the chicken in 1 tablespoon olive oil until cooked through (about 5 minutes, until no pink remains). Remove the chicken from the Dutch oven and set it aside.
- Slice 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper and 1 green bell pepper into thin strips.
- Add the sliced peppers to the same Dutch oven and cook them with 1 tablespoon olive oil for 5 minutes.
- Add ½ cup green onion, 2 tablespoons garlic paste, and 2 tablespoons jerk seasoning and cook for an additional minute.
- Pour in the 1 cup chicken broth and bring to a boil. Then add 14 ounces full-fat coconut milk and reduce the heat to a simmer. Heat until the broth mixture thickens (about 5 minutes).
- Add the cooked chicken and most of the 2 cups Parmesan cheese.
- Remove from heat and stir well.
- Once the cheese is melted, stir in the cooked penne. As the pasta cools slightly, the sauce will begin to thicken and adhere to the pasta. Continue to gently mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Serve with reserved ½ cup of parmesan cheese.
Notes
- For an extra creamy finish, try reserving ½ cup of the pasta water before draining and stir it in along with an additional ¼ cup of cream. Let the mixture simmer together for just a minute—this helps the sauce cling perfectly to the noodles. For best results, cook the pasta just shy of al dente and toss everything together right before serving.
- Jerk seasoning is traditionally somewhat spicy. If you aren’t a fan of heat but like all the flavors in this recipe, you can make your own jerk seasoning using salt, pepper, thyme, allspice, brown sugar, garlic powder, and cinnamon - just leave out the cayenne pepper which usually accompanies this seasoning.
- Storage Instructions: Rasta Pasta will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge. It reheats well on the stovetop, in the oven, or microwave. If you have leftover cheese and coconut milk or broth, you can add a bit of each in when reheating. If it is well wrapped and airtight, it should keep for 6 months in the freezer.
- Other FAQ suggestions:
- Can I use leftover chicken in this recipe? Yes, you would want to use approximately 2 cups of chopped or shredded chicken. Instead of frying it in olive oil, you would just mix it well with the jerk seasoning.
- I can’t find coconut milk - what else could I use? You could use heavy cream, coconut cream, or half and half.
- What could I substitute for the chicken broth? You could use vegetable broth or combine 1 cup of water with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.
- How much garlic powder would I substitute for 2 cloves of garlic? You would use ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder in this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 659kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 803mg | Potassium: 739mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2276IU | Vitamin C: 83mg | Calcium: 453mg | Iron: 5mg
Find it online: www.sugarandsoul.co/rasta-pasta-30-minute-dinner/