Chicken Riggies and 'Scarole with Soul
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 4 servimgs
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 4 servings
- Calories
- 1394
- Total Fat
- 59
- Saturated Fat
- 17
- Carbohydrates
- 151
- Dietary Fiber
- 16
- Sugar
- 24
- Protein
- 69
- Cholesterol
- 185
- Sodium
- 2232
- Total: 50 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 30 min
Ingredients
Salt
1 pound rigatoni
3/4 pound chicken tenders, 1 package
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1 package
Black pepper
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
7 to 8 garlic clove, grated or finely chopped, divided
2 large or 3 small cubanelle peppers, seeded, chopped
3 roasted red peppers, chopped
6 hot cherry peppers pickled in jar, in Italian section of grocery stores
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/3 to 1/2 cup cream, eyeball it
1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more to pass at table
1/3 pound thick cut capocolo hot ham, chopped
2 heads escarole, coarsely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup basil, about 10 leaves, thinly sliced
4 pieces crusty bread
Directions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil for "riggies". Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Heads up: you will need to reserve cup of cooking water just before you drain the pasta.
- Trim up the thighs and chop all the chicken into bite size pieces. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large high sided skillet over medium-high to high heat.
- Add chicken to hot pan and brown all over, 7 to 8 minutes then remove. Add onions, 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, cubanelle peppers then season with salt and pepper and cook 6 to 7 minutes to soften then add roasted red peppers. Cut tops off the hot peppers and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon then chop the hot peppers and add them to the skillet. Stir in tomatoes and add chicken back to the sauce. Bring sauce to a bubble then stir in some starchy cooking water from the pasta - about a cup, then add the cream, twice around the pan, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer a couple of minutes. Add pasta and 1/2 cup cheese and toss to combine.
- While the chicken and peppers are cooking, heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped ham and cook 2 minutes, add reserved pasta water and garlic and reduce heat a bit. Add greens and wilt down, 2 minutes. Season the greens with salt and pepper, add stock. Simmer greens 5 to 6 minutes and serve.
- Top the pasta with shredded basil. Pass cheese to top both pasta and greens and serve with crusty bread.