Switch things up tonight with this creamy cajun pasta featuring wild turkey. Wild turkey works great in this recipe because you can cut it up and portion it before it gets breaded and cooked. This dish is loaded with tomatoes, bell peppers, penne pasta and lathered in a creamy cajun sauce that is out of this world. The pasta get cooked in the sauce- so no extra cleaning.
First we will prepare the wild turkey breast. Using a meat tenderizer, we’ll pound of the turkey breast into an even thickness. This helps the meat cook evenly because we definitely do not want to let this meat get overcooked. It’ll end up tough, and nobody likes that. For this recipe, I like to keep the turkey breast whole prior to cooking, then cut it up later and place on top of the pasta. If you prefer to portion them out first, you can do this step prior to dredging. I’ve done it both ways and the recipe works great either way.
Once we’ve gotten our turkey breast into a nice even thickness, we’ll prepare three dredging stations. The first station is flour, the second is an egg wash station and the third is Panko breadcrumbs mixed with seasonings that will give us that Cajun flavor we all love. Then we’ll brown the breaded turkey breast in a deep skillet on both sides just until the breadcrumbs are golden brown. Then we will place them on a baking sheet and let them bake in the oven as we prepare our pasta.
While our turkey breast is baking in the oven, we’ll use the same deep skillet to make our pasta. We’ll start by sautéing diced onion and bell pepper in our pan. Once the vegetables have softened, we can add in our uncooked pasta, diced tomatoes and chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Once the skillet has reached a boil, we’ll bring it down to a simmer and let it cook until the pasta is al dente. The broth should slowly disappear from the pan as the penne cooks. Lastly, we’ll add cajun seasoning to add a nice kick to a sauce with cream cheese and sour cream to make it deliciously creamy. Once we’ve mixed that together the wild turkey usually reaches 165 degrees around the same time- SO PERFECT right?!
I like to slice up the wild turkey and serve it right over top of the pasta. That’s it! A delicious dinner in less than one hour with minimal clean up. My husband and I love this recipe and I hope your family does as much we do. Let us know if you make this recipe in the comments.
A Wild Turkey breast breaded and seasoned with Cajun flavors paired with a creamy Cajun pasta loaded with penne pasta, tomatoes, and a creamy Cajun sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
1 Wild Turkey Breast
1 cup AP Flour
2 Large Eggs, Mixed with 1 tablespoon Water
1.5 cups Panko Breadcrumbs
2 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning, Divided
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Dried Parsley
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Large Red Bell Pepper, Diced
1 Medium Onion, Diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
16 ounce Penne pasta
3 cups Chicken broth
14.5 ounce can Petite Diced Tomatoes (undrained)
4 ounces Cream cheese
1/4 cup Sour cream
Parsley, for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Pound wild turkey breast to an even thickness (approximately 1/2 inch).
Prepare three stations: 1 with the flour, the second station with the egg wash and the third with panko. Add onion powder, garlic powder and 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning to the panko. Mix until even.
Dredge the wild turkey breast into the three stations, starting with flour and ending in the breadcrumbs.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large deep skillet. Once hot, place the breaded wild turkey breast and cook for about 3 minutes each side, or until each side is golden brown. Remove from skillet and place into the oven until the temperature reads 165°F.
Heat the oil over medium-high until the skillet is hot. Add the diced onion and bell pepper to the skillet and sauté just until the onion begins to soften
Next, add the pasta, diced tomatoes (with the juices), and chicken broth to the skillet. Stir just until everything is evenly combined, then place a lid on top and allow the broth to come up to a boil.
Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the pasta simmer for about ten minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the pasta is tender and the liquid is thick and saucy.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning, cream cheese and sour cream to the skillet, then stir until it has melted into the sauce. Top with chopped parsley and serve.
