Chicken riggies or Utica riggies is an Italian-American pasta dish native to the Utica-Rome area of New York State. Although many variations exist, it is a pasta-based dish typically consisting of chicken, rigatoni, and hot or sweet peppers in a spicy cream and tomato sauce. Many of the chefs from the Utica area seem to have a claim to the dish, yet there seems to be no clear idea who was the originator.
Tomato sauce. Wikipedia
Main ingredients: Chicken, Capsicum, Rigatoni, Tomato Sauce
Place of origin: Utica
Alternative names: Utica riggies
Chicken riggies Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package rigatoni pasta
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut in bite-sized pieces
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 Cubanelle peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 3 roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
- 2 hot cherry peppers, seeded and minced
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Chicken Riggies Directions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add rigatoni pasta and cook until tender yet firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook in hot oil until lightly browned on all sides and no longer pink in the center, about 7 minutes. Remove chicken from the skillet and keep warm.
- Stir onion, Cubanelle peppers, and garlic into the skillet. Cook and stir until onion softens, about 4 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and hot cherry peppers; bring to a simmer. Stir in cooked chicken and heavy cream; simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in pasta, then garnish with Parmesan cheese.
Why is it called chicken riggies?
Many agree the original recipe didn’t have heavy cream, but what gave it a creamy texture was a lot of grated cheese, Doti said. As far as the name goes, Doti believes it came from customers repeating chicken rigatoni so much, the name was shortened to riggies.
What is chicken riggie sauce made of?
Chicken riggies is made with a spiced creamy tomato-based sauce. It comes together with a can of crushed tomatoes and heavy cream that gets stirred in towards the end of cooking to thicken the sauce and add richness, which slightly tempers the heat of the hot cherry peppers.