Spicy Chicken Rigatoni (Buca di Beppo Copycat). New Music From Geoff Ong.

So apparently there is an American chain restaurant that has been around since 1993 called Bucca di Beppo. There are about 90 of these family-style, Italian food places around the country.

Never heard of it.

That is until I spotted a delicious looking photo of Spicy Chicken Rigatoni here, which Ashley recreated from the Buca di Beppo menu.

I don’t know what the dish is like in the restaurant, but this Spicy Chicken Rigatoni recipe is sublime. Spicy, yes, but also creamy, garlicky and rich. I love the look of the peas studding the plate.

The recipe uses the fantastic Alfredo Sauce that I shared yesterday. It is so good and easy that you definitely don’t want to use the purchased stuff.

Spicy Chicken Rigatoni

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 Tbs crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbs garlic, minced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
2 cups marinara sauce
2 cups Alfredo sauce (recipe here)
2 Tbs butter
1/2 cup peas
1 lb rigatoni pasta cooked according to package directions
Parmesan cheese and additional crushed red pepper, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add sliced chicken and sauté briefly until almost cooked through.

2. Add marinara sauce first and then Alfredo sauce and bring to a simmer. (It is important to add the marinara first to help keep the Alfredo sauce from separating). Cook until sauce thickens slightly and chicken is cooked through.

3. Turn off heat. Add butter and peas and incorporate into sauce.

4. Toss cooked pasta with the sauce. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper and serve.

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe from Center Cut Cook

I headed over to Soundcloud to check out Geoff Ong’s latest single “The Last Song I’ll Ever Write About You”. As is typical of me, I got completely distracted by his other tunes with unusual names such as “Well, This Is Awkward” and “Between You, Me And The Irony”.