Want to spice up your pasta? Then we’ve got the dish for you. We received this spicy creation via Chili’s culinary director, chef Mohammed Abd Salam.

“Add a twist to your traditional alfredo pasta by peppering it up the Chili’s way, in simple and easy steps,” said Salam.

Ingredients:

• One pack penne pasta
• Olive oil, as needed
• Salt, as needed
• 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp margarine
• 2 tbsp garlic, chopped
• ¼ cup lemon juice and one quart water
• Two quarts whipping cream
• 3 cups parmesan cheese
• 2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
• 2 cups white American cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup corn starch
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• Diced tomatoes and minced parsley
• Chicken breast (breaded and fried)

Preparation:

1. Cook pasta in boiling, salted water. Once done drain and add oil into the pasta and toss
2. Blend together water, lemon juice, corn starch, all-purpose flour, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper with whisk to make sauce
3. Melt the butter and margarine in a pan. Add garlic and sauté for two minutes
4. Add the sauce and heat to a slight boil. Once the sauce has thickened, reduce the heat
5. Add the processed Swiss and white American cheese to the sauce to melt
6. Add the whipping cream and parmesan cheese and blend together
7. Toss the alfredo sauce together with the pasta
8. Serve with a sprinkle of diced tomatoes, shredded parmesan cheese, minced parsley and fried breaded chicken breast strips

(This recipe serves 15 people)

Check out our very own Tried and Tested review of this recipe below;

Not one to shy away from a carbohydrate filled pasta fest, we weren't daunted to try this über rich and creamy cajun chicken pasta, courtesy of Culinary Director, Chef Mohammed Abd Salam of Chili's.

The recipe serves up to 15 people so we were quick to more than halve the ingredient amounts, and even then we were left over with a large amount of alfredo sauce that we ended up freezing for future late nights.

Even though we may be a bit indulgent when it comes to our eating habits, the sauce itself was a bit too much – even for us. After making the base of the sauce, which was tinged a light brown, we added small handfuls of shredded French emmental cheese and parmesan cheese. Skipping the other cheeses, we topped it off with just enough whipping cream to turn our sauce a creamy white colour.

The sauce was very rich but surprising flavourful and we definitely could taste the cayenne pepper. We only added around three serving spoons of our sauce to the pasta to coat the penne evenly. Not keen to drench the pasta with this thick and creamy mixture we then quickly fried up some breaded chicken patties  and added the warm strips to our pasta. We then dotted the plate with tomatoes and parsley to brighten things up.

The verdict? The pasta was quite nice but very heavy, given the very rich ingredients, so it was a struggle to finish. We'd suggest you add a bit more cayenne pepper to kick up the flavour quotient, since the sauce's delicate flavour really is quite delightful but does get lost amidst the breaded chicken, tomatoes and fresh herbs.

We give it four out of five spoons!