This spicy and creamy chicken riggies recipe is a great way to give an extra special flavor to your regular rigatoni pasta.
The predominant flavor on any chicken riggies is peppers. You can add a wide variety of peppers. I suggest you to use a classic sweet bell pepper to create the base of the flavor and a spicy type of pepper to give some heat to the sauce.
The key to my super-rich spicy sauce is to add hot cherry peppers to the mix. This will add a deepness in flavor and enough heat to make the rest of the flavors stand out.
The original recipe uses sherry to create the sauce, but currently I don’t have any sherry on my pantry and for that, I use a dry white wine and it worked just fine.
What makes chicken riggies so special?
The chicken riggies sauce is unique because it doesn’t have any herbs as many Italian recipes and that’s because it is an American-Italian dish.
Of course, it has the principles of the good Italian pasta recipes — like tons of garlic, olive oil, and parmesan cheese — but it has some fusion elements like the peppers and heavy cream. It’s a classic New York comfort food that has the best of both worlds.
Can you reheat Chicken Riggies?
As you may know, pasta usually holds pretty well the microwave or oven reheating process.
The thing with this recipe is the heavy cream. For that sole reason, I would say that it’s best to save this recipe in the fridge up to 24 hours and it can be reheated with no problem.
Preferably use the oven to avoid dryness. If you must use the microwave, a good trick is to put a glass of water inside the microwave while you are reheating the chicken riggies. This trick will add the extra moisture that the pasta needs to get that creamy finish.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and I see you in the next one!
More pasta recipes:
Alfredo chicken and cherry tomato
Chicken Riggies
Ingredients
- 200 gr uncooked rigatoni pasta
- 1 big boneless chicken breast
- 1 small onion
- 1 small red bell pepper
- 1 hot cherry pepper
- 1 garlic minced
- ⅓ cup dry white wine or sherry
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Parmesan to taste
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook the rigatoni pasta according to their package instructions.
- Cut the chicken breast into cubes and season with salt and pepper. In a big dutch oven pour the olive oil and cook the chicken until it’s slightly golden. Pour the wine and cook for 2 minutes until the alcohol is evaporated. Remove from the dutch oven and save for later.
- Cut the bell pepper into julienne. Cut the onion and the hot cherry pepper into tiny cubes. Toss them into the same dutch oven and cook them for a couple of minutes until the onions are transparent. Toss the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Toss the cooked chicken, the heavy cream, the tomato paste and simmer for 3 - 5 minutes.
- Add the cooked rigatoni and parmesan cheese to taste. Serve immediately.
I’m Maria and I love cooking—and mostly EATING—food from all around the world. I’ve been sharing my abuela’s secret Latin-American recipes for the last 7 years with the world on this blog. I’ve been a full-time food blogger for many years and I’m always trying new delicious meals that don’t require a culinary degree or a Michelin-star chef. I also love traveling, cats, and knitting.