Chicken Riggies: A Central NY Dish

Central New York is renowned for incredible Italian dishes, due to the influx of immigrants in the late 1800s. I am not Italian, since I was raised in an Italian region by Italians, I cook a lot of Italian foods. (I also talk with my hands :-p ). One such Italian dish in the Utica, NY, area is Chicken Riggies, is a famous and popular local dish. There’s even a Riggie Fest every year, with local restaurants competing for the infamous title of King Riggie or something like that.

It seems that everybody around here has their own variation of Chicken Riggies; this is mine. I originally posted the recipe on my New York Traveler blog, where it went viral and go linked to on Wikipedia. That was cool, like getting a spot on the best paid web directories for free!

Anyway, as with a lot of my cooking, the ingredients are “a little this” and “a little that.” Basically, Chicken Riggies is a chicken, tomato cream, and sherry cream sauce on rigatoni pasta dish. This recipe is completely customizable– add more cream if you want it creamier; add more cherry peppers (so daring you are!) if you want to burn your tongue off; leave out the sherry if you don’t want alcohol. I prefer less cream, less spice, and more tomatoes. Mmmmm/

Chicken Riggies
Feeds an army or 4 to 5 Italians

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 3 or 4 hot cherry peppers (from the jar), seeded and chopped (add less or more if you are a glutton for punishment)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 2 cans (28 oz. or so) diced tomatoes
• 4 leaves freshly chopped basil, or 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup sherry (optional; I always add it)
• 4 to 5 chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces*
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup light cream (depending on taste)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese (optional)
• 2 1-lb. boxes of penne rigati or rigatoni

* You can pre-boil the chicken, or use leftover chicken, or use leftover grilled chicken cubes for extra kick.

This time, I boiled the chicken. Cut the chicken into cubes and toss them in a large wok (or other large pan) with the olive oil, diced onion, and chopped garlic. Cook gently until the onion turns tender.

While that’s cooking, mince a few pickled cherry peppers. I dislike hot dishes, so I only included two peppers for a little excitement. After you’ve chopped them, throw them into your wok, and stir.

Add the tomato paste and the cans of tomatoes; then add the spices. Mmm, I love basil. Stir well.

Allow the sauce to simmer for about 20 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, start boiling the rigatoni pasta.

Back to the tomatoes: After 20 minutes or so, add the sherry if you are using it, and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir frequently and do not allow the tomato sauce to burn– keep the heat a low/medium.

The tomatoes should be done, so remove them from the heat. Add the cream and the Parmesan cheese and lightly stir.

Stir in a handful of mozzarella cheese if you want.

Drain and lightly rinse the rigatoni. Place it into a large dish. Pour the Riggie tomato sauce on the pasta and lightly stir. Garnish with more cheese. It’s a terrific meal all on it’s own, but you can also serve it with a crispy green salad or garlic bread. Soooooo good.