With the beginning of summer I have taken upon myself the “Great pasta salad challenge”.It is the ultimate entertaining dish, the ultimate garden dinner with friends dish, the ultimate eat it straight out of the bowl while standing in front of the fridge at 2 am dish. This buttery and slightly spicy pasta salad has the charred taste of grilled chicken because it is the time to grill everything and even when you are not in a garden with a grill, you can use a cast iron griddle pan. I wouldn’t normally use this pan in the wintertime because it comes with a lot of smoke and oil smell that calls for open windows or balcony doors.
If you have found yourself with the task to bring something to the table of a garden grill party then this pasta salad is a definite crowd pleaser and will get your friends asking for a recipe. This will easily be enough for 5-6 portions as a main dish and many more if served with 8 other dishes.
Grilled Cajun chicken chicken pasta salad with sweet & spicy butter sauce
Ingredients
- 400 g chicken fillets I had 8 small ones
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp fresh black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 red bell pepper
- 150 g yellow corn ½ a can
- 150 g cherry tomatoes
- 30 g scallions
- fresh parsley for serving
- 300 g cornetti rigati or other small sized pasta
Sweet & spicy butter sauce
- 6 tbsp mayo
- 50 g melted butter
- 1 tsp Srirarcha
- 1 tsp white sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl mix the olive oil with salt, pepper, paprika and the cajun seasoning. Place your small fillets in there and let marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Put a large pot of salted water to boil and add your pasta. Cook according to package instructions. Pour trough a colander and run trough cold water to stop the pasta from cooking any further.
- Chop the scallions and add 2/3 of them to a large bowl. Chop the tomatoes, bell pepper and add to the bowl with the corn.
- Heat a cast iron griddle pan on high, then add enough oil to coat it and turn the heat down to medium. Carefully place all of the fillets on the pan and grill from each side for 3 minutes until they develop nice charred grill lines. Turn the heat off but leave the fillets on the pan for 3 minutes more, flip halfway. Place them on a wooden board and rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
- Make your sauce by adding the mayo, butter, Srirarcha, sugar and salt in a small bowl and whisking together. Add to the rest of the salad and mix well.
- You can mix the chicken in the big bowl with the rest of the ingredients or serve it on top of each portion. Serve with the rest of the scallions and a bit of parsley.