Copycat Maggiano's Rigatoni Arrabbiata
Spicy sauce cooled by cream and cheese
Ingredients
- 1/2 Onion finely minced
- 1/2 tbsp Olive oil
- 3 tbsp Minced garlic
- 1-2 tsp Red chili flakes
- 2 cups Tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
- 3/4 cup Heavy cream
- 2 cups Spinach chopped and loosely packed
- 1 lb Chicken breast approximately 1 breast
- 1 tbsp Canola oil for frying the chicken
- 8 oz Dry rigatoni pasta cooked al dente
- Sprinkle of salt and pepper to coat chicken
Instructions
- Place chicken on a sturdy cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Pound with the flat side of a meat mallet until the chicken is a uniform thickness. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper on each side.
- In a skillet, heat about 1 tbsp canola oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken to the skillet. Fry 3-4 minutes on each side to form a nice crust on the chicken. Check the temperature of your chicken breast. If it has reached 165F remove the chicken from the skillet. If not, fry for 1-2 minutes per side until complete, adding ⅛ cup of water if needed to prevent burning.
- Remove chicken to a plate and cover with tin foil. Set aside.
- In the same skillet or a new one, fry the minced onion with ½ tbsp of olive oil. Fry until the onions are becoming crisp and browning. Add the garlic and chili flakes and continue frying until the garlic is starting to brown and the chili flakes are lightly toasted.
- Add the tomato sauce to the fried onion mixture and stir well to combine. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the tomato sauce is not very watery.
- Reduce the heat to very low, until the sauce is barely simmering. Now add the heavy cream and stir until well combined. Add the spinach, bring to a very low simmer, and cover the pot partially with a lid to steam the spinach into the sauce, approximately 5 minutes. Remove sauce from the heat.
- Chop the chicken breast into bite sized strips and stir into the sauce.
- Next, add in the cooked rigatoni pasta and stir to combine. Simmer for a minute.
- Scoop the ricotta in small blobs over the rigatoni and fold in. Serve.