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Chicken Riggies
Chicken Riggies is a delicious pasta dish with rigatoni pasta, chicken, and peppers in a spicy and creamy tomato sauce.
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken (half breast, half thighs)
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 cup jarred sliced hot cherry peppers, divided
2 tablespoons fresh garlic cloves coarsely chopped, divided
1/2 large red bell pepper, cut into one-inch pieces
3 sprigs fresh oregano
1-pound dry rigatoni
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
2 cups sweet onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more if you like it spicy
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/3 cup sherry
2 16-ounce jars roasted red peppers, drained and coarsely cut up leaving some larger pieces
2 14.5-ounce cans diced fire roasted tomatoes, not drained
1/4 cup fresh basil cut up, plus more for garnish when serving
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups Romano cheese, grated and divided
Instructions
- Before beginning, make sure all ingredients are cut, chopped and measured out. (Read about mise en place here.)
- Clean the chicken of visible fat. Cut the breasts into four even thickness pieces similar in size to the chicken thighs so all chicken pieces cook evenly. Set aside.
- In a large pot, fill with water and place on stove over high heat. Once boiling, add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Fold open a 12X12 piece of cheese cloth and fill with ¼ cup of the sliced hot cherry peppers, one tablespoon of chopped garlic, the red bell pepper pieces and the fresh oregano. Pull up into a pouch and tie off the top with twine.
- Place this cheesecloth bag into the water, cover and cook five minutes.
- Remove cover but leave the bag in, add the chicken pieces, cover and remove from heat. Let sit six minutes off-heat in the hot water to poach.
- Use a spider or tongs to remove the chicken to a platter to cool. The chicken may not be fully cooked with a tiny amount of pink. It will cook later in the recipe. Keep the water hot on a low burner with the cover and leave the cheesecloth bag in the pot.
- Once cool enough to handle, shred the chicken with two forks or simply pull the meat apart with your fingers to shred. Set aside for later in the recipe.
- Bring the poaching liquid to a boil and add the rigatoni to cook. Cook it a few minutes shy of fully cooked. Do not discard pasta water. See Chef Tip in the post above on timing.
- In a separate large heavy-duty pot or Dutch oven, add half the olive oil over high heat. Once shimmering hot, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often to brown, about 8-10 minutes. Once browned, remove to a small bowl and reduce heat to medium.
- Add the remaining olive oil and once hot, add the onions and cook stirring often to soften, about five minutes. Add the remaining tablespoon of garlic and cook one minute.
- Add pepper flakes and tomato paste and stir continually for two minutes.
- Add sherry to deglaze and cook for one minute.
- Add the chopped roasted peppers, canned tomatoes, basil, cooked mushrooms and remaining teaspoon of salt along with the reserved cooked shredded chicken. Stir and simmer over a low heat while the rigatoni continues cooking.
- Once the rigatoni is just slightly undercooked, use a spider or strainer and add to the pot of sauce along with the cream, butter and 1 ½ cups of the shredded Romano cheese and stir.
- Add enough pasta water to make a creamy sauce while the rigatoni finishes cooking in the sauce.
- Once fully cooked, portion and serve with the rest of the hot sliced cherry peppers, fresh basil and the remaining Romano cheese.
- Save some pasta water to help reheat leftovers, if any. Discard the cheesecloth bag.
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Find it online: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/chicken-riggies/
