Blackened Chicken Rigatoni Recipe (with Video)

1. Cook Rigatoni Pasta according to packaging. I recommend boiling 1 Pound of Pasta in 4 Quarts of Water with 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt until Al-Dente (about 8-10 minutes). Save some of the pasta water that was used to boil the pasta for later steps.
2. Clean, trim excess fat, and pat dry chicken breast.
3. You can thinly slice our chicken breast or flatten it to have an even ¼ inch thickness. To flatten our chicken breast, use one piece of chicken at a time. Place chicken breast on a flat surface, such as a cutting board. Place a piece of protectant over it, such as a sheet of plastic wrap or place inside of a plastic zip bag. Use a blunt object, such as a rolling pin, and pound chicken breast until it has an even ¼ inch thickness.
4. To season our chicken, in a bowl, combine & mix olive oil and salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, cumin, & cayenne pepper. Make sure each piece of chicken is fully coated in our spice blend.
5. To cook our chicken, heat a skillet on medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add in olive oil. Once oil is hot, add in chicken breast and cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is done with an internal temperature of 165 F. If you face difficulty by chicken being blackened properly on the outside but haven't finished cooking on the inside, place chicken in the oven in a covered pan at 350 F for about 20 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.
6. Once chicken is done, remove from skillet and set aside.
7. For our sauce, in the same skillet that was used to cook our chicken, reduce heat to medium and add in butter. Once butter is melted, add in diced onion, add in a pinch of salt, and cook for about 2 minutes. Next, add in minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Then, mix in tomato paste and chicken broth. Begin to scrape up bits at the bottom of the skillet.
8. Add in heavy cream. Then, add in salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and Italian seasoning and mix in well. Continuously stir sauce, slightly turn up heat, and bring sauce to a high simmer.
9. Once sauce is at a high simmer, reduce heat to a low simmer and add in pasta water from cooked pasta. Mix in well, and simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken.
10. Remove sauce from heat and let cool for about 2 minutes to continue to thicken. Next, mix in parmesan cheese. Then, toss in cooked pasta. Slice cooked chicken, then, add in cooked chicken. Sprinkle on Italian parsley and additional parmesan cheese.