Chicken Riggies are a taste treat that is wonderfully unknown to most of the country. It's my favorite meal to serve when friends are in from outside of our area. Most people have never even heard of them, and they are blown away! Once you have mastered them, Riggies are likely to be your "go to" meal with a gathering. You'll know how good they are when your are invited to a party on the condition that you bring your Riggies. Trust me, it will happen.
If you're not from our area, by now you must be wondering, "What the hell are Chicken Riggies!?" Basically they are just what the name implies, chicken and rigatoni. How you present the two is what makes this a local classic. People in the Rome-Utica area have evolved to intuitively know how Riggies should look and taste. Though the dish has numerous variations, all Riggies have a sauce that gives it flavor and brings it together. For me, the sauce is everything. Sometimes thick, sometimes thin, sometimes red, sometimes white, you'll see it all. Some Riggies include a hearty mix of onions and peppers with a sauce in the background. While others tout the sauce to showcase the chicken and rigatoni. My Riggies (which are really a modified knockoff of my neighbor's) have a classic thick pink sauce and is rich with peppers, onions, and mushrooms.
Riggies are offered in many of our local restaurants, and many of them boast to offer the "best" or "award winning" Riggies. Sad! Now, thanks to me, you know better than that. So how should your Chicken Riggies look and taste? I'm going to share my recipe with you as "Cookingguidelines", just like the blog name suggests. It's up to you to make them your Riggies. They'll be just great!
Ingredients-
3- Boneless chicken breast
1 1/2 lbs Rigatoni
2- Large yellow onions
3- Bell Peppers (multi color is nice)
6- Cherry hot peppers (optional)
4- Garlic lobes
8oz Sliced mushrooms
1- Small can sliced black olives
1- Cup good tomato sauce
1- Pint heavy cream
2- Sticks salted Butter
Creole seasoning
Chicken bouillon
Kosher salt
Black pepper
3- Cups water
2- Tablespoons flour
I start this dish with a beer in my hand. Trust me, nothing goes better with Riggies than a beer, and you'll love making these babies for a party while pre-gaming for that party!
Prep the food first, before you drink too much. I chop the bell peppers in bit size pieces. If you're using the cherry peppers adjust the numbers for the heat you want. I like those in rings so they are easy to see and they look great. The onions I cut on halves and then cut them in semi rings for appearance & to release flavor. How you cut the vegetables can actually change the flavors because of the surface area exposed to sauce, cooking, and tasting. Mince the garlic. Finally, I cut the chicken into bit size pieces. Simple yes?
Now put a pot of salted water on the stove over medium heat so it's ready for the rigatoni when we are.
By now, I'm well into my second beer, remember that this is often a party dish. I make Riggies in a large deep electric fry pan. So warm that baby up to medium heat and toss in a stick of butter. When it melts- add the peppers, onions and mushrooms. Toss them together with a generous amount of kosher salt and pepper. I simmer the vegetables with a cover on about half of the simmering time- the other half of the time I take the cover off. It is an off cover/on cover process. I know you don't hear that everyday, but I do. I cover it for a few minutes to wilt the top veggies, then I uncover it, toss them around with my wooded spoon, and then let the steam out for a few minutes. After a couple of those cycles, I add the garlic. I continue the cooking cycle while occasionally tasting a pepper until the peppers are soft, but not quite done as much as I like. That's when I remove all the vegetables from the pan.
While the vegetables were cooking, I tossed the chicken with creole seasoning so it was ready to sauté. As a side note, do not remove any of the juices when you remove the vegetables from your pan as these will flavor your chicken. Dump the seasoned chicken in your buttery juices. Over medium heat sauté the chicken for just a few minutes. We want to cook the chicken through- but don't over cook the chicken as it will get tough! These details of keeping your chicken tender and leaving your vegetables with some integrity will make the difference between good Riggies and great Riggies.
I'm always multitasking while I cook. While I sauté the chicken, I drink beer, and I mix 3 cups of water with a heaping tablespoon of chicken bouillon. Warm the bouillon water mix a few minutes in the microwave. When the chicken is just cooked through, I return the vegetables, add the bouillon water, and my sliced olives. Bring it to a low simmer for just a few minutes. I'm seeing the bottom of my third beer by now, how are you doing? By the way, that boiling water on the stove is looking for rigatoni now. Add the reggatoni and don't forget to check on it occasionally while we finish up the sauce.
Lower the heat to stop the simmer, then add a pint of heavy cream and a cup of tomato sauce. Bring the pan back to a slow simmer while stirring. YOU HAVE BEEN STIRRING, RIGHT! I didn't tell you to, but of course we are occasionally mixing and checking the bottom of our pan with the spoon to make certain nothing is sticking. Granted, this is not pudding, but mix and monitor your dish. Also, check the seasoning as you progress. The creole seasoning brings a lot of spice to the mixture so be careful not to overdo. That said, adding salt or pepper at the plate is not our objective. We want it seasoned during the process for the best flavor. I usually find that the salt and pepper added to my vegetables in step one, combined with the creole from the chicken is perfect, but I do taste as I go. That's the only way to be sure.
Now we need to finish the sauce by thickening it. Remember you don't stop and do this, everything is happening at once! While the sauce was coming back to a simmer I mixed 2 heaping tablespoons of flour with a cup of water, checked my boiling rigatoni, and opened my fourth beer. Now we're cooking and I love making Riggies! Broadcast the water flour mix over the sauce and sir it in. You'll need to let it simmer a few minutes to fully thicken.
Now let's talk about the rigatoni noodles. This is another detail that can make or break your Riggies. It's simple math folks, bad noodles equals bad Riggies. You want you noodles al dente. If you leave just a slight bite to the rigatoni, the sauce will finish it perfectly. Never rinse pasta, never! When you watched your mom rinse pasta, you watched her take off the starch that makes the sauce stick to it. A big mistake!
Finally, we will assemble this culinary delight. Add the sauce to your award winning serving dish, if you don't have one you haven't earned it yet. Next, add the strained (not rinsed) reggatoni and toss.
That's it! You're done! You just made the second best Riggies in the world!
This is me with one of my best friends -Dave. We just completed a batch of my Reggies!!
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