Jerk Chicken Rasta Pasta Recipe

Rasta Pasta is one of the most flavorful dishes one can eat with the combination of pasta sauce and Jerk Chicken. It's not a difficult dish to make but instead, just takes a lot of time. If you are up for the challenge, I am telling you, if you make this dish, you're going feel like you're in Jamaica. 

Serving Size: 2-3   

Ingredients: 

Jerk Brine

1. One whole chicken broken down (2 wings, 2 thighs, 2 breasts) 
2. 5 q water into a big pot 
3. 1/2 lb of ice 
4. I whole Garlic bulk cut in half 
5. 1 lime cut in half 
6. 1 tbsp of allspice berry 
7. 1 tbsp of black peppercorn 
8. 4 bay leaves 
9. 1 bunch of thyme  
10. ¾ cup of sugar 
11. ¾ cup of salt

Jerk Marinade 

1. 10 scallions 
2. 6 garlic cloves 
3. 1 inch of ginger 
4. ½ stalk of thyme 
5. 2 scotch bonnet / habanero  
6. 2 tbsp of allspice 
7. 1 nutmeg 
8. 1 sticks of cinnamon 
9. 1 tbsp of black pepper 
10. 1 tsp kosher salt
11. 2 lime juices 
12. ¾ cup of soy sauce 
13. ¼ cup of Worcestershire sauce 
14. ¼ cup of vinegar 
15. 3 tbsp molasses 
16. 3 tbsp brown sugar 

Jerk BBQ Sauce

1. 1 white onion 
2. 5 garlic cloves minced 
3. ¾ inch ginger minced
4. 1 cup of ketchup 
5. ⅓ cup of brown sugar 
6. ⅓ cup of jerk marinade 
7. 1 tbsp soy sauce

Rasta Pasta

1. ¾ box of pasta 
2. 2 tbsp butter 
3. 2 bell peppers 
4. 2 small shallots 
5. 4 garlic cloves minced 
6. 1 cup of chicken broth 
7. ¾ - 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
8. 1 cup of cubed jerk chicken 
9. 3 tbsp of jerk marinade 
10. 3 tbsp of jerk bbq sauce
11. 1 cup of parmesan cheese 
12. Green onions of garnish

Directions: 

Breakdown Chicken 

1. Get a whole chicken and break it down or buy it separately. You can use any piece of the chicken you want but I went with 2 wings, 2 breasts, and 2 thighs. 

 

Jerk Brine

1. Get a large pot to get started on the Jerk Brine. Add in water, salt, and sugar into the large pot on a low flame until everything is dissolved. Immediately add in ice to cool down the mixture. 
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients into the jerk brine (garlic, lime, allspice berries, black peppercorn, bay leaves, thyme) and place it into the fridge for 4 - 24 hours. You can skip this step if you are crunched for time. 

 

Jerk Marinade

1. On a small saucepan, add in your dry ingredients which are cinnamon, nutmeg, black peppercorn, and allspice berries and give it a light toasting till you start smelling it. 
2. Place toasted dry ingredients into a spice grinder and pulse till fine until you have fresh Jerk Spice Seasoning.  
3. Place the grinded jerk spice seasoning into the blender with rest of the ingredient of the Jerk Marinade (scallions, garlic, ginger, thyme, scotch bonnet, salt, lime juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, molasses, brown sugar) and blend. 
4. You most likely won’t need it but add in 1 tbs of water if the sauce is so thick that the blender can’t blend.
5. Place in a bowl and set aside. 

 

Jerk BBQ: 

1. Dice up onion and mince garlic and ginger. 
2. Put a sauce pan onto a medium flame and add in onion and cook down for 4-5 minutes. 
3. When translucent, add in garlic and ginger and saute for 1-2 minutes till fragrant
4. Add in ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, and jerk marinade and simmer for 2-3 minutes. 
5. Taste and see if you need more brown sugar or jerk marinade. I usually will add a bit more sugar if need be. 
6. Add into a blender and blend until smooth.

 

Jerk Chicken: 

1. Set oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Get the marinade chicken out and place it on a wired oven rack. 
3. After about 20 minutes, brush on some marinade and flip the chicken.
4. cook for an additional 20 minutes and flip back over and hit the skin side with the Jerk BBQ 
5. At this point, check the wings. If they are done remove. 
6. Cook the chicken breast for another 5 minutes (total 45 minutes) and remove when cooked. 
7. The thighs might need another 10 more minutes (total 55 minutes) but remove when done. 
8. Cut up and enjoy your hard work!

Note: main thing to note here is the wings get done first, then breast, then thighs. Give the chicken the BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes of cooking skin side up. 

Rasta Pasta: 

1. Cook pasta according to the package till al dente. 
2. Get a large pan onto a medium heat and add in butter. 
3. Add bell peppers and cook down for about 5 minutes
4. Add in shallots and cook down for 2 minutes 
5. Add in garlic and cook for 1 minute till fragrant 
6. Add in chicken broth and heavy cream and simmer for about 4-5 minutes till combined and thickened. 
7. Add in Jerk Marinade and Jerk BBQ and simmer for another minute 
8. Turn flame to low and add in Parmesan Cheese and mix.
9. If the sauce turns too thick, add in some pasta water to loosen up
10. Add in your chicken 
11. Add in your pasta and mix 
12. Top with green onions and ENJOY!