Carmela's Chicken Rigatoni (Copycat Macaroni Grill)

From: SecretIngredients

On Jul 2, 2008

I ONLY get this dish at Macaroni Grill! Never have I tried anything else...I know...call me boring! But I love it! Why mess with perfection!! This is a dead on ringer!! I wasn't sure what you meant by cooking wine so I used a merlot. I only wish this didn't have so much heavy cream! I'd have it everyday!! Thanks for posting!

From: Kim127

On May 16, 2008

I loved this! I used grilled chicken breasts that I sliced before adding. Also I used dried basil as I didn't have any fresh, but I think fresh would just add to this. Used a nice pinot grigio for the wine, only 2 cups of cream(1 pint) and I was out of parmesan so I substituted asiago which was wonderful and I don't think it really changed the flavor of the dish any. I made Mommy Diva's Perfect Caramelized Onions (Easy and Versatile) for the onions. Thanks for a wonderful dinner.

From: Chef #515810

On Jun 16, 2007

I just made this for dinner tonight complete with the copy cat recipe for Macaroni's rosemary bread. My family loved it!! This recipe is just like the restaurant. I actually used half and half instead of heavy cream, just because I am trying to watch my weight and I thought the recipe itself wasn't very diet friendly!! I also didn't use as much oil as it called for. I used about 1/4 cup of oil and about 2 tbsp of butter instead as I couldn't find butter flavored oil. This was a pretty easy recipe. You can do a lot of it ahead of time, and then just toss it all together when you're ready. I'm so happy to have found this recipe and will make this again for special occasions! I highly recommend it!!! Three of us ate tonight, and there is more than enough for another serving for everyone tomorrow. Now I don't have to go to the restaurant to have this yummy dish!! You MUST try this if you like the restaurant version!!! I really can't say enough good things about it!

From: Crafty Lady 13

On Oct 21, 2007

I have never tried this dish at the Macaroni Grill, but I can certainly imagine a dish this delicious would be on their menu. I don't like mushrooms, so I replaced them with some chopped sun dried tomatoes. I didn't use precooked chicken or pasta. I cut chicken breasts in strips and sauteed them before starting on the rest of the recipe. As the chicken was sauting, I put water on to boil and cooked the pasta. Other than that, I followed the instructions on this recipe. Even without using precooked chicken, this was very quick to make. This has become one of my favorite pasta dishes. The flavors are undescribably delicious. Thanks for a wonderful recipe, Cooks4_6. This is going into my keeper file.