I was recently invited to a grand opening for the Maggiano’s Little Italy franchise and one of the things in my goodie bag was a recipe for their Rigatoni “D”. I remember how good it tasted at the restaurant and was pleasantly surprised when I made it at home it tasted just like the restaurant. The only advice is the sauce will be a little loose, but if you let the noodles soak in the liquid it will thicken up and be really nice.
Rigatoni “D”
(Adapted from Maggiano’s Little Italy)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
3/8 cup Spanish, yellow or white onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
2 cups low sodium chicken broth, cold
1 1/2 tablespoon corn starch
2 cups rigatoni pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound chicken breast, boneless, skinless
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine, Chardonnay
3/4 cup Marsala wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
2 tablespoons basil, chopped
3/8 cup Parmesan cheese – 12 month, grated
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. On a 12 X 18 cookie sheet or tray, mix the diced onions, mushrooms, finely chopped garlic, and balsamic vinegar together ensuring all ingredients are evenly mixed and coated. Bake for 15 minutes until mushrooms are a deep brown color and almost all liquid and moisture has evaporated. Set aside mixture.
In a medium bowl, combine the corn starch with cold chicken broth with a whisk. Set aside mixture.
Prepare pasta as directed on the box to the al dente stage approximately 10 minutes before you plan on cooking the entire pasta dish. Do not shock in ice water and do not run under cold water. Drain pasta in a colander, shake out excess water, then toss in an 8 quart bowl with half of your olive oil and reserve for the final dish. 4.
Cut Chicken into pieces approximately 1” long x ¾” wide. In a 12”-14” sauté pan or Dutch oven. heat the remaining olive oil and butter until melted and butter begins to lightly brown, add cut chicken and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes until a light golden brown color is achieved.
Immediately add the white wine to the sautéed chicken, reduce until dry, add the Marsala wine and reduce by half, then add the cold chicken broth/corn starch mixture, bring to a simmer.
Then add the heavy cream, kosher salt, black pepper, and the mushrooms, onions, and garlic from step 2. Bring to a simmer and allow the sauce to thicken.
Add the Rigatoni Pasta, and continue cooking for 2 minutes while simmering allowing the starch from the pasta to thicken the sauce and the corn starch to bloom and tighten the sauce. Finish the pasta and sauce with fresh basil, fresh Italian parsley, and grated parmesan cheese. Serve in a larger serving dish or in the Dutch oven casserole dish.
