Chicken Riggies

Mangia, mangia.  Here’s a dish to warm you in the cold winter. 

1 pound rigatoni
¾ lb. chicken tenders, 1 package
¾ lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1 package
Salt & Black pepper
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large or 3 small cubanelle peppers, seeded, chopped
3 roasted red peppers, chopped
6 hot cherry peppers picked in jar, or can use mild
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/3 to ½ cup cream
½ cup grated Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano

 

Bring a pot of water to boil for the rigatoni.  Add salt to the water before adding the pasta.  Cook pasta to al dente. 

Note:  You will need to reserve 1 cup of cooking water just before you drain the pasta.

Trim up the thighs and chop all the chicken into bite size pieces.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 tbls. olive oil in a large high sided skillet over med-high to high heat.

Add chicken to hot pan and brown all over, 7-8 minutes, then remove.  Add onions, 3-4 cloves of garlic, cubanelle peppers, then season with salt and pepper and cook 6-7 minutes to soften.

Note:  In this particular dish, I couldn’t find cubanelles…wrong time of the season so I substituted yellow banana peppers.

Add roasted red peppers. 

 

Cut tops off the hot/mild peppers and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon, then chop the peppers and add to the skillet. 

 

Stir in tomatoes and add chicken back to the sauce. 

 

Bring sauce to a bubble and stir in some starch cooking water from the pasta…about 1 cup. 

 

Add about 1/3 to ½ cup cream to the pan. 

 

Reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer a couple of minutes.  Add pasta and ½ cup cheese and toss to combine.

 

4 servings

Bits & Pieces

 

You can really play around with the dish, as you can with most Italian dishes.  I use whatever peppers I have on hand.

Did you know that Utica, New York has had a Chicken Riggifest every year since 2005?  The best riggies wins a Riggi Cup!  All money made from the festival is donated to the YWCA.  You can find Chicken Riggi recipes all over the place.  It’s a real comfort food and fun to make.  Buon appetito!