25 Reviews of Romano's Macaroni Grill Penne Rustica

From: Chef #258989

On Nov 7, 2005

Tasted very much like the actual dish at the restaurant. It calls for WAY too much pasta! At most, you'll need 24oz of penne. I recommend cutting the recipe in half. That should easily serve 4. The 20 minute prep time is also rather ambitious. Count on at least 90 minutes. Very tasty and well worth the time and effort!

From: rana&sis

On Oct 4, 2005

My finished product wasn't too much like the actual dish at the restaurant. We made the sauce the night before, good thing too because it took a long time! And I think that 48 oz noodles is way too much. Is it suposed to be 48 oz. after or before boiling? Because I think that 1-16 oz package would be sufficient. And I wouldn't still be eating leftover noodles a week later

From: LindseyLove

On Feb 12, 2008

LOVED IT!! I'm making a special V-Day dinner for my boyfriend and this is the recipe i picked. I made it over the weekend just to try it out. It's wonderful. the sauce had so much flavor. I cut the recipe in half and it's perfect. I used 16oz pasta but next time I'll cut the pasta just a bit so there's sure to be plenty of sauce.

From: Chef #765650

On Feb 15, 2008

Sooo Good!! The only pasta my husband will eat! It taste just like the real thing. Just don't add all the pasta to make it extra saucy!!

From: ThespiSis

On Oct 23, 2006

I already have this recipe. I make adjustments to make it lighter when I make it, but my mother makes it as is. It never last very long in her house. I did find that I needed to double the parmesan to even come close the Macaroni Grill's flavor.

From: Chef #1389700

On Sep 20, 2009

This recipe is time consuming, but well worth it. I cook for a group of church deacons once a month. I tried this recipe and received rave reviews. The flavor was spot on. I did however replace pimentos with sundried tomatoes in olive oil. I am cooking it again tonight for the family. Loved it!!!

From: Chef #1302118

On Jun 21, 2009

Calls for WAY too much cream. I would say use 6-7 cups MAX, instead of 8. Also, recipe is too heavy on the butter. Mine ended up very oily...Takes at least an hour to reduce the cream to half, and tack on another hour or so for the rest of the cooking. Overall, a very expensive recipe with somewhat disappointing results. I suggest adding in some tomato paste or something of the like for more flavor...I will not make this again.

From: Chef #1098302

On May 15, 2009

the taste is excellent to everything. The 4 stars is simply because the recipe is not very well written. Approx times and temp settings are not given, and the cook and prep times are wildly underestimated. Add those two together (20+50) and you still might not have reduced the 8 cups of cream by half. All in all a good copy of macaroni grill's dish.

From: Cupcake kid

On Jul 17, 2008

My boyfriend made this recipe tonight and I must say. Never NEVER use milk instead of cream. And remember to put corn starch in cold water and mix it before you add it to the sauce. sigh I apologize for such a travesty in the name of this great recipe.

From: Chef #210824

On Apr 20, 2005