Chicken Riggies Recipe
Chicken riggies is a creamy, spicy rigatoni dish from Utica, New York, made with chicken, hot cherry peppers, mushrooms, and olives in a pink tomato sauce. Easy to make and easy to spice up.
Servings: 6
Calories: 787kcal
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
Sauce
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 large red bell pepper diced
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry sherry
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped jarred hot cherry peppers stemmed and seeded, about 4-5 cherry peppers, roughly 4 ounces drained
- 3 tablespoons cherry pepper brine from the jar + more as desired
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon hot paprika
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano plus more for serving
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives
Finish
- 1 pound rigatoni
- 1 1/2 cups reserved pasta water
- 1/4 cup fresh basil hand torn
- Red pepper flakes for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Season the chicken pieces with the salt and black pepper.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in a single layer, working in batches, about 4 to 5 minutes. It does not need to cook through. Transfer to a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms to the same pan. Cook 7 to 8 minutes, until softened and the mushroom liquid cooks off. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute more.
- Pour in the sherry and scrape up the browned bits from the pan. Reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the rigatoni to the boiling water now and cook 1 minute shy of al dente. (NOTE: If the pasta finishes before the sauce is ready, drain it and toss with a little olive oil so it doesn't stick.)
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes, cherry peppers, cherry pepper brine, Italian seasoning, and hot paprika. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes. You can simmer longer if you'd like, 20-30 minutes (adjust pasta cooking time as needed).
- Lower the heat so the sauce barely bubbles. Stir in the heavy cream, then return the chicken and any accumulated juices. Simmer 5 minutes, until the chicken cooks through and the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Pecorino a handful at a time so it melts smoothly instead of clumping. Return the pan to low heat, add the olives and the drained rigatoni, and toss for 1 to 2 minutes, loosening with reserved pasta water a splash at a time, until the pasta is al dente.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper brine. Top with torn basil and serve with extra Pecorino and red pepper flakes.
Notes
Heat Level: Medium as written. For mild, use sweet cherry peppers, skip the brine, and use sweet paprika. For hot, use 1 cup of hot cherry peppers with the pith left in and add 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes to the sauce. For wild, add 2 tablespoons Calabrian chili paste with the tomato paste and 1 minced habanero with the garlic.
No-Cream Version: Skip the heavy cream, increase the Pecorino to 1 cup, and reserve 2 cups of pasta water. Stir the cheese into the pasta off the heat to emulsify, adding water gradually and tossing constantly.
Chicken: Boneless skinless breasts work in place of thighs. Cook them slightly less.
Sherry: Dry white wine is a good substitute.
Storage: Refrigerate up to 4 days in a sealed container. Reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of water or cream. Freezes up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 787kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 197mg | Sodium: 1237mg | Potassium: 1283mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1816IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 269mg | Iron: 5mg