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Poultry


Wicked Hot Sauce:
1/4 can chipotle pepper in adobe sauce
5 serrano/jalepeno/fresno chiles, stemmed, rough chop
3/8 cup hot pepper oil (chili oil)

Chicken:
3/8 cup olive oil plus 3 to 4 tablespoons
1 onion, small dice
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh garlic
1/2 tablespoon dry basil
1/2 tablespoon dry oregano
1 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2-3 peppers diced (colored or poblano)
4-8 oz mushrooms (optional)
6 cherry tomatoes diced fine
1/2 cup sliced olivies (small can)
4 cups favorite tomato sauce
2 cups light cream
1 cups grated Romano
sherry
1 to 1 1/2 pounds dried rigatoni noodles
1 pounds chicken breast, cut into strips
Shredded locatelli cheese, or favorite grated cheese, for serving
4 scallions, fine dice (retain for final garnish)

For the hot sauce: In a blender, carefully blenderize the chipotle peppers, serrano chiles and pepper oil. This stuff is hot! Be careful with splatter! Reserve.

For chicken, cube and marinade in barbeque sauce 2-3 hours. Rinse thoroughly and pat/let dry.

For the base: In a large braiser or saucepot, warm 3/8 cup of the olive oil over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, black pepper, cayenne and red pepper flakes. Stir well and cook until the onions are translucent.

Stir the fresh chopped bell peppers into the onion mixture. Stir to coat. Add the reserved hot sauce. Continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms, olives, cherry peppers, deglaze with a little red wine and cook till mushrooms soften. Add the tomato sauce, cream, Romano. Whisk well!

Lower the heat until the sauce slightly bubbles, and stir well. Turn the heat to low or off while sauteing the chicken cubes and cooking the rigatoni noodles.

When the sauce is nearing doneness, cook the rigatoni noodles according to package directions. I like to pre-cook my pasta for sauteed pasta dishes such as this. Pre-cooking rigatoni to near doneness, straining and holding at room temperature, or completely chilling down if holding for several hours or more and then dunking in hot, boiling water prior to sauteing works well.

For the chicken saute, heat a large saute pan with the remaining olive oil. First, sprinkle the chicken cubes with 1 teaspoon salt (more or less), and add to the hot olive oil, one layer at a time. Do not overcrowd the pan. Cook in batches if necessary. Add a dash of black pepper if desired. Flip and shake the chicken pieces around in the hot pan to sear all sides. Cook until opaque and lightly brown, about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Add the chicken to the sauce and add the sherry. Taste and reseason if needed, simmer 5 minutes. Pour onto a serving platter or individual pasta bowls. Garnish with locatelli cheese and reserved fresh scallions.


Excellent