Utica Chicken Riggies Image Used Under Creative Commons License From hostthetoast.com
Citizens, today it is My great pleasure to share with you a recipe that is legendary in upstate NY – straight from the proud city of Utica!
Chicken riggies or Utica riggies is an Italian-American pasta dish native to the Utica-Rome area of New York State. It is a pasta-based dish usually consisting of chicken, rigatoni and hot or sweet peppers in a spicy cream and tomato sauce, although many variations exist.
“Chicken Riggies” are simply Chicken Rigatone with red bell peppers. Despite Chicken Rigatone predating “Chicken Riggies”, Utica residents continue to dispute the origins of the dish.
The name “Chicken Riggies” is a Utica, NY, colloquialism and a household name known to everyone in Central New York. Utica, NY is so famous for its Chicken Riggies (rigatoni) that they actually have a much-publicized, annual “Riggies Fest” where people (and, restaurants) compete with their own version of the dish, and a winner is crowned every year.
The first annual Riggiefest was held in Utica, NY, in 2005 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. It is a contest which determines what restaurant makes the best riggies in the area. The best riggies will win its creator the prestigious “Riggie Cup”. All money made during the fest is donated directly to the YWCA. In 2008, the festival made over $300,000.
Should you ever find yourself in Utica, Chesterfield’s Restaurant lays claim to having invented this dish. To reinforce the chicken flavor in the final dish, I add in a touch of chicken glacé – buy it from here.
Citizens, My version is based very closely on the original from Chesterfield’s own original Chef Joe Morelli. My innovation is to add peppadew peppers in with the hot cherry peppers for a sweet heat that is totally addictive! You will be proud to serve this at your dinner table and prepare for the compliments to follow!
Utica greens – THE classic accompaniment to chicken riggies – is an Italian-American dish made of escarole sautéed with garlic and olive oil. Most recipes include hot cherry peppers, pecorino or Parmigiano cheese, bread crumbs, prosciutto or another cured meat, and sometimes chicken broth.
In the 1980s, Italian restaurants in Utica began serving this variation on traditional Sicilian and Southern Italian sautéed greens; the dish has since spread to other cities in the United States. Other variations include greens with potatoes, romaine, kale, Swiss chard, and pignoli nuts.
The combination of Utica Riggies and Utica Greens as a Siamese Twin-set of recipes is truly sublime and I guarantee it will become a genuine favorite, My Citizens of TFD Nation!
2 large fire-roasted red peppers (from the jar and sliced into 1 inch pieces)
5 peppadew and 2 hot cherry peppers, roughly chopped – this is a TFD modification, the original called for hot cherry peppers only, roughly chopped
28 oz. can whole San Marzano tomatoes
5 cloves garlic (save one of the cloves to sauté chicken and peppers)
1cup freshly-grated Pecorino Romano cheese (plus more for topping)
1cup Sherry wine (cut with about 1/2 cup water) – TFD uses Harvey’s Bristol Cream
2+2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (separated – half for sauté, half for sauce)
8 Tbsp. butter (1 stick)
1/8cup heavy cream mixed with 2 tsp. chicken glacé
1/2 tsp. dried basil (plus, a few torn leaves of fresh basil for tossing in with pasta at the end)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
***
Riggies Garnish:
red pepper flakes
freshly-grated Pecorino Romano cheese
***
Utica Greens (from Chesterfield’s restaurant):
1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil
1cup bread crumbs
1/2cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
1 head escarole, about 1 1/4 lb., bottom removed, leaves separated and washed thoroughly to remove grit
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices prosciutto (about 2 oz.), sliced thin and cut into roughly 1-inch squares
4 to 6 hot cherry peppers (pickled will do if you can’t find fresh), tops and seeds removed, broken by hand or chopped into 4 or 5 chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
1/2cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated, plus 2 or more Tbsp. for garnish
Instructions
In a large pot heat extra-virgin olive on low heat with 4 smashed and chopped garlic cloves. This infuses the garlic into the oil before you add the tomatoes. Be careful that the garlic doesn’t get brown. It will be bitter. Add the whole tomatoes and Sherry Wine. Simmer for a few minutes. Add the butter, dried basil and the sea salt. Allow to simmer on very low heat.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, sauté the chicken in extra-virgin olive oil. When chicken is almost browned, stir in the roasted red peppers, the hot cherry peppers and peppadews, one minced garlic clove, and sauté for a couple of minute so the flavors marry.
Carefully, mash the whole tomatoes with a potato masher, then add in the Pecorino Romano cheese. (Do not add the cheese earlier, as it will stick to the bottom of the pot a little, and cling to the masher.)
Toss the chicken and peppers in with the marinara sauce and heavy cream, simmer for 10 minutes. Prepare rigatoni al dente and toss the full pound of rigatoni in the pot with the sauce mixture and fresh basil leaves. One pound of rigatoni is perfect for the amount of sauce that is prepared. Serve with additional grated cheese and red pepper flakes.
For the Utica Greens: Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, prepare the oreganato: Mix the oil, bread crumbs and cheese until well blended. It should have the texture of moist beach sand. Set aside.
When the water is boiling, blanch the greens until they are nearly limp but still a little firm, about 1 to 2 minutes. Plunge them into the ice bath to stop the cooking. Remove and drain them well in a colander or salad spinner, allowing them to remain moist but not dripping wet. Squeeze just a little of the moisture from them, then chop them into 2-inch pieces. Set aside.
Heat the broiler. Coat a large pan with the olive oil. Over medium heat, sauté the prosciutto, cherry peppers and garlic until the prosciutto is browned and slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. (Lower heat slightly if garlic begins to brown too quickly.) Add the chopped greens to the pan, season with salt and pepper and stir to mix well.
Add 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and 1/2 cup of the oreganato. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently to blend, scraping the bottom of the pan to keep the oreganato from burning.
Sprinkle another 1/4 cup oreganato atop the greens. (Save leftover oreganato for use in another greens dish, or add it to baked chicken or shrimp.) Place the pan under the broiler and broil until the top browns, about 2 minutes. Remove from the broiler and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the dish. Serve immediately.
Prep Time:0 hours
Cook Time:0 hours
Category:Recipes
Nutrition
Calories:1434.98 kcal
Sugar:15.35 g
Sodium:912.26 mg
Fat:78.15 g
Saturated Fat:37.43 g
Trans Fat:0.7 g
Carbohydrates:104.75 g
Fiber:8.94 g
Protein:77.71 g
Cholesterol:311.73 mg
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