I want to share with you my cajun-inspired meal with you, complete with a dessert for my next recipe of the alphabet! My friend Whitney came over to watch the Bachelor on Monday, and she was sweet enough to oblige me and my new recipes! I started with a creamy jambalaya pasta...
Ingredients
1/2 pound Farfalle pasta
1/2 lb smoked sausage, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup heavy cream (or half & half or evaporated milk)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion or 2 Tbsp minced onion flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup white wine
4 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese
In a large pot, boil water for pasta. Salt water. Boil pasta and cook until al dente. Set aside. Brown sausage in a small skillet over medium heat.
Once browned, add onion and saute for two minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add white wine to skillet, making sure to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom. Let wine reduce by half, about two minutes. Stir in Cajun seasoning, paprika, salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Add cream and heat to almost bubbling, then reduce heat to low. Allow the cream mixture to reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta and add to skillet. Toss with parsley and freshly grated Parmesan.
And Whitney was even kind enough to pose for a picture, after I assured her that no more than 5 people would view this! :) Now onto KING CAKE!!!
When researching recipes, every one I found was extremely complicated, involving warm yeast and a thermometer. I knew that I am definitely not ready for that kind of dish, so I finally found this easy alternative to the original cake and although it's not quite as pretty but tastes just as good!
Ingredients:
Filling:
4 ounces (half of a large block) cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cake:
2 rolls (total of 12 individual crescent rolls) refrigerated crescent rolls in the can
Icing:
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
3 to 4 Tablespoon (about) milk or cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Purple, green, and yellow colored sugar crystals or food coloring
Preparation:
Place cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, in the bowl with the metal blade. Process until combined. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a pizza pan or baking sheet with butter-flavored vegetable oil. Unroll crescent roll dough and separate into triangles. Position triangles next to each other with the points toward the center, overlapping the long sides about 1/4-inch, forming a large round. Where the pieces overlap, press the seams together only in the center of each seam, leaving either ends of the seams unsealed so you can fold them up over the filling. Spread the filling around in a ring covering the center sealed seam of each triangle.
Place a small plastic baby or dried bean somewhere in the filling. (The person who gets this piece will have good luck for the year.) Fold the short side of each triangle toward the center just to the edge of the filling to cover. Then pull the point end of the triangles toward the outer rim of the pan to fully enclose the filling, tucking under the points. Lightly press the seams.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla until smooth. The consistency should be fairly thick, but still thin enough to slowly drip down the sides. Add more milk as necessary. Spoon the icing in a ring over the top of the King Cake and allow it to slowly drip down the sides. To decorate for Mardi Gras, sprinkle wide stripes of purple, green, and yellow colored sugar crystals.
I love cream cheese but you really could use any kind of filling. Also, this recipe had the option of including pecan halves in the filling. The possibilities are endless!
Enjoy!!
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