This Rigatoni D Copycat Recipe from Maggiano's is full of creamy Italian Comfort Food flavors and textures. Combine this with a slight spiciness from the blackened chicken strips, and you've got one impressive pasta dish. Not to mention, it's all made in a single Dutch oven!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
The creamy sauce in this Maggiano's Copycat has a heavy wine flavor with after notes of caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms. I chose to use my own seasoning and made spicy blackened chicken, which paired very well with the flavors in the sauce.
This is a true one-pot stick-to-your-ribs kind of Italian comfort food dish.
While it's not exactly the same as Maggiano's Rigatoni D, it's certainly a dish that will impress you as well as your friends and family.
Ingredients
Meat: I prefer organic chicken breast, but that's completely up to you.
Vegetables: All you'll need is Fresh Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms and Yellow Onions.
Pasta: A box of Rigatoni.
Liquids: You'll need Balsamic Vinegar, Chicken Stock/Broth, Olive Oil, Chardonnay, Marsala Cooking Wine, and Heavy Cream.
Herbs and Spices: Here, you'll use fresh Minced Garlic, Kosher Salt, Ground Black Pepper, and fresh Basil.
Extras: The only extra ingredients you'll need are Salted Butter and Fresh Parmesan.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Start by heating an 8qt Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Next, add balsamic vinegar, onions, and mushrooms and sauté for about 15 minutes or until the mushrooms have browned and shrunken in size.
Turn the heat down low.
Next, In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cornstarch and chicken broth together, setting aside for later.
Now, butterfly the chicken breasts and place them in gallon-sized freezer bags or between to pieces of plastic wrap.
Using a kitchen mallet, pound out the chicken breasts thin and even. Not too hard, though. You don't want to hulk slam a hole in the middle, tenderize, and make them thin.
Set the chicken aside for a moment, melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments. You don't want the butter to break, so keep an eye on it. Add the blackened seasoning to the melted butter and stir to combine fully.
I always transfer the chicken to a separate plastic bag for this next step. Every Now and then, a hole appears at the seam of the bag I used to pound it in.
Pour the butter and seasoning mix over the chicken in a plastic freezer bag, moving the chicken breasts around, being sure they are fully covered.
Preheat an outdoor griddle or cast iron skillet on high heat and cook the chicken. This normally only takes 3-5 minutes on each side because it's so thin, but I always cook by temperature. A quick read thermometer ensures the chicken has cooked to 165°f internally. Each side of the chicken should have a nice blackened sear, leaving the inside tender and juicy.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and slice into strips against the grain.
Add the chicken strips and Chardonnay to the Dutch oven, allowing the wine to cook until it's almost dry.
Next, pour the marsala cooking wine in and simmer until it's reduced by half.
Grab the chicken broth mixture from before, add it to the Dutch oven, increase the heat, and bring to a simmer.
Lastly, add the cream, salt, and pepper, and continue to simmer while you boil the rigatoni.
Cook the pasta just before al dente, about ten minutes, then drain and stir the pasta into the sauce. Cover the Dutch oven and simmer on low until ready to serve.
There you have it...Blackened Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce!
I garnish mine with a bit of Italian Parsley for a pop of color and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Fresh basil is also fantastic sprinkled over the top.
Expert Tips
- While the sauce originally seems thin, the trick here is to cook the rigatoni just before al dente, then add the pasta to the sauce, allowing the remaining starch to be the thickener.
- You may consider serving this with Fresh Baked Rustic Rosemary Bread to scoop up any remaining sauce in your bowl. They're perfect together!
Recipe FAQs
Chef David D'gregorio was the original chef at Maggiano's and was the creator of their famous Rigatoni D dish.
Many different kinds of sauces and meats will pair perfectly with Rigatoni. But if you're looking for something special, Rigatoni D is the way to go. If you're looking for a side, have some garlic bread to soak up any remaining sauce.
Boil rigatoni for about 10 minutes to cook al dente. However, I recommend boiling the past for 8 minutes for Rigatoni D as it will still cook when combined with the other ingredients, thickening the sauce.
Rigatoni D is a creamy wine-based mushroom sauce with caramelized onions, chicken, and rigatoni pasta.
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📖 Recipe
Blackened Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce-(Copycat Recipe for 'Rigatoni D')
Ingredients
Blackened Chicken
- 1 lb Chicken Breast
- 3 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 3 tablespoon Blackening Seasoning
Creamy Mushroom Sauce
- ¼ Cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 ½ Cups Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
- ½ Cup Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 2 Cups Chicken Broth
- 1 ½ tablespoon Cornstarch
- ¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 tablespoon Salted Butter
- ½ Cup Chardonnay
- ¾ Cup Marsala Cooking Wine
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Basil, chopped
- Fresh Parmesan for garnish
Rigatoni
- 16 Oz Rigatoni Pasta
Instructions
- In a 7 qt Dutch Oven add balsamic vinegar, onion, and mushrooms cooking over medium low heat. Once onions begin to brown and mushrooms have become a dark brown color and shrunk down, about 15 minutes, add the minced garlic to combine. Turn heat to low.
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk the cornstarch and chicken broth until fully combined.
- Preheat an outdoor griddle or cast iron skillet on high heat.
- Butterfly the chicken breasts, place them in a plastic bag and pound them to an even thin layer.
- In a microwave safe dish melt the butter and then stir in the blackening seasoning.
- Pour the blackened butter mix into the bag of chicken and mix around until chicken is fully covered.
- Blacken the chicken breasts on one side about 5 minutes or until a nice blackened crust has formed then flip and cook to an internal temp of 165°f. Slice the chicken breasts against the grain.
- Add the chicken to the dutch oven.
- Immediately add the Chardonnay and reduce to almost dry.
- Add the Marsala, reducing by about half.
- Next, pour in the chicken broth mixture and bring to a simmer.
- Pour in the cream, salt, and pepper, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
- About 15 minutes before serving, boil the pasta to just before al dente per the box instructions, about 10 minutes.
- Once the pasta has boiled, strain and gently mix the rigatoni into the sauce. Allow the noodles to thicken the sauce, simmering over low heat for about 10 minutes and serve.
- Garnish with fresh basil, Italian parsley, and fresh parmesan.
Video
Notes
- While the sauce initially seems thin, the trick here is to cook the rigatoni just before al dente, then add the pasta to the sauce, allowing the remaining starch to be the thickener.
- Try serving this with Fresh Baked Rustic Rosemary Bread to scoop up any remaining sauce in your bowl. They're perfect together!
Jeanie says
How would you adapt this for the Instant Dutch Oven? It looks so good!
Jeremy says
Hey, Jeanie! That's a great question and I've been so excited about the Instant Dutch Oven! You really could make the recipe the exact same way by starting off on the sear setting and then switch it over to the braise until you're ready to add the pasta. Once you've added the pasta I would set it to keep warm and allow the pasta to cook a bit more in the sauce and then serve. You could possibly even sear the chicken in it first but I haven't personally done that. I prefer to make the chicken in a separate cast Iron just because of how hot I can get the skillet. Hope this helps and let us know how it turns out. I'm excited to hear how you like it!