Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Spaghetti ***

I made this basically as written, except that I added crawfish and used angelhair pasta in place of spaghetti. Oh, and smoked sausage in place of andouille. Those are all just personal preferences, though. It was amazing. It technically does take a bit of prep time, but it's worth it. For me, it helped that I had cooked chicken on hand and used a frozen fajita pepper blend in place of the peppers. All I really had to do was cut up the sausage. I actually need to make it again soon, now that I think about it!

SLOW COOKER CAJUN CHICKEN SPAGHETTI
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ Tablespoon)

10 oz (about 2/3 of a 1 lb box) dried spaghetti noodles
1 jar (15 oz) Alfredo sauce
1 medium (about 1 cup) yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 lb andouille sausage, sliced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 can (14.5 oz) Muir GlenOrganic Diced Tomatoes Fire Roasted
1 1/2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

To start, cut the chicken into bite-size chunks and slice the andouille sausage.
Dice the whole onion, chop the bell pepper and mince the garlic. (Prep work over.)
Pour 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker and stir in the onions and garlic. Layer the chicken pieces on top of the saucy onions and sprinkle half of your Creole seasoning over the chicken.
Layer the bell pepper and sausage pieces over the chicken, then pour in the whole can of tomatoes (including the liquid). Top tomatoes with remaining Creole seasoning and Alfredo sauce.
Close the lid and cook on low for 4 hours. After 4 hours, give everything a stir and add about 1/4 cup of heavy cream to the sauce. Season with salt to taste, and add additional Creole seasoning if desired.
Break the spaghetti noodles in thirds and place them in the sauce. Stir until noodles are completely coated and submerged in the sauce, with no pieces sticking out.
Increase heat to high and cook, covered, for 20-25 more minutes. Give your pasta a good stir or two, and enjoy! NOTE: Keep in mind that once you turn the slow cooker off, the sauce and noodles will continue to cook for a few minutes. If you're not going to eat immediately, reduce the time you cook the noodles so that they are not overcooked by the time you're ready to eat.
*Amy's notes: I subbed angelhair pasta, smoked sausage, and a frozen fajita pepper blend. I also cut back on chicken and added crawfish.

One Pot Crawfish and Shrimp Creole Pasta ****

This one was basically inspired by what we were craving tonight, lol.  It was such a winner, though.  I'm so ridiculously far behind on my postings, but I wanted to hurry and get this one down before I forgot how I did it.  We all know how that can be!  I love that it only uses the one soup pot on the stove, though, and even the noodles cook right in there.  It's super easy.  Plus, everything starts from frozen, meaning that it's easy to throw together at the last minute (which is where a lot of the inspiration came from tonight - ha!).  The kids are on Spring Break this week, and they're already asking if they can have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

ONE POT CRAWFISH AND SHRIMP CREOLE PASTA
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 package frozen crawfish tails
1 package frozen extra small shrimp (precooked and deveined)
1 package frozen fajita blend peppers and onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
16 oz box angelhair pasta
5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 tsp Creole seasoning (we use Tony Chachere's)

Pour olive oil into the pot. Add frozen crawfish, shrimp, and peppers and onions.  Sprinkle with Creole seasoning. Cover and cook on medium heat until veggies are tender and everything is well-thawed, adding mushrooms and garlic about halfway through (about 10 minutes total).
Remove lid and let some of the liquid cook out, stirring occasionally to keep everything cooking evenly.
Add the dry pasta to the pot.  Pour in the chicken broth, cream, and Parmesan. Stir until everything is well-combined.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, keep covered and bring the heat down to a simmer for 10 minutes (stirring every couple of minutes).
If it's still soupy at the end (mine wasn't), you can either continue cooking, to cook out some more of the liquid, or you can add a bit of cornstarch to thicken it up.

One Pot Shrimp Parmesan Pasta ***

The original recipe was just for 4 servings, so the updates below are to make 6 servings.  For the original amounts, make sure to follow the link to Damn Delicious.

This was really good.  The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the fact that cooking the shrimp directly in the sauce gives the sauce more of a "fishy" taste than I like.  I think I would prefer to cook the shrimp separately and just add it at the end.  I know that it would defeat the "One Pot" portion of the title, but I really do think it would be better for my own personal tastes.  Other than that, no complaints.  The flavor was great.  We all loved it.  It didn't necessarily "wow" any of us, but it was a nice to change to our regular meals.

ONE POT SHRIMP PARMESAN PASTA
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ DamnDelicious ~ with Amy's updates for 6 servings)

1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 onion, diced
32 ounces Ragu Traditional Sauce
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
15 ounces uncooked fettuccine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cups baby spinach
1/4-1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion to the skillet, and cook, stirring often, until onions have become translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
Stir in Ragú, chicken broth, red pepper flakes and fettuccine; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked through, about 18-20 minutes.
Stir in shrimp and spinach until the spinach begins to wilt and the shrimp is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan.
Serve immediately.

Shrimp and Spinach Alfredo with Angelhair Pasta ***

I don't know how, but I had completely forgotten about this recipe.  I love, love, love it.  Two of my favorite things are spinach and shrimp, so this is a pretty easy win for me.  The kids actually request leftovers when I make this one, which is really, really rare around our house, lol. 

SHRIMP AND SPINACH ALFREDO WITH ANGELHAIR PASTA
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy)

2 lbs extra large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
26 oz jarred alfredo sauce
12 oz whole-grain angelhair pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
12 oz frozen cut leaf spinach
6 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup diced onions
Garlic powder, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, if desired

Cook noodles in soup pot as directed on package.  Drain.
While noodles are cooking, remove tails from shrimp if necessary and chop into 2-4 pieces per shrimp.  Heat oil in saucepan on medium heat.  Add shrimp to pan.  Season with pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Saute 4-5 minutes, until all shrimp are pink.  Remove from heat.
While noodles are draining in colander, heat spinach with water in soup pot.  Add mushrooms and onions.  Saute until all spinach is thawed and most water has cooked out, about 5 minutes.  Add shrimp and alfredo sauce and heat through.  Mix in the noodles, and serve immediately.  Sprinkle servings with grated Parmesan if desired.
Yield: 8 servings

Previous reviews:
5/29/12 ~ I had lots of thawed raw shrimp to use up, and since I got off work so late, I didn't have time to do anything fancy like I had planned.  I came up with this based on what I had in the pantry, and we loved it.  Such a shocker for me.  Well, not so much on my end, since anything with shrimp, alfredo sauce, and spinach is bound to be divine, but I was shocked that the kids loved it as much as I did.  My 8-year-old has already requested that we have it again tomorrow.  For kids who never want the same meal (or leftovers) two nights in a row, this is a huge deal.  As written, the recipe makes about 8-10 servings.  That gives us enough for two nights.  You could easily half it, though.  I'm actually looking forward to seeing how it is after sitting in the fridge and soaking up the flavors overnight.  I do want to make a homemade alfredo sauce next time, but this worked for now.  :)