Albuquerque, New Mexico

Some pictures from my trip to New Mexico Last week!!

Spicy Chicken Rigatoni

For years my brother and Stephen have been raving about a restaurant called Bucca di Beppo. It is a family style Italian restaurant with limited locations (mostly large cities). Well when we visited Albuquerque  New Mexico, we found one and had to try!! Everything we had was delicious, but this dish was my absolute favorite. I tried to find it online and made a couple of modifications on my quest to remake this dish. It is a super easy MUST try!

1 rotisserie chicken, cut into small pieces

1 cup marinara (I used Tomato Basil from Traders)

1 cup Alfredo (I used Trader Joes brand)

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon butter

1 cup frozen peas

1 lb rigatoni pasta, cooked and drained (but not rinsed)

more red pepper flakes to garnish if you desire

Directions: 

• Boil water and cook pasta. This is very important, make sure you drain the pasta when it still has a little "bite" to it. You do not want the noodles to be mushy or overcooked!
• In a large pan, heat olive oil on medium for about 3 minutes. 
• Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until the garlic just starts to cook and the red pepper flakes add spice to the oil (you can do less red pepper flakes if you want it less spicy)
• Add the rotisserie chicken and mix in the oil, let cook about 5 minutes
• Add the marinara and Alfredo sauce and let cook another 10 minutes
• Add the peas, then add the cooked pasta and stir!
• Make sure all the noodles are covered in the sauce and the chicken is incorporated throughout the pasta. 
• Serve up!