Last updated on May 14th, 2015
I made this for dinner yesterday, and it was memorable in every way. It’s a highly-perfumed dish of chicken, mushrooms, onion, and garlic, all bathed in a red wine-and-cream sauce, and spooned over gluten-free pasta. Here’s the simple step-by-step:
Note: Who’s the “Garibaldi” in Penne Rigate Garibaldi? I haven’t a clue. My quick Wiki search turned up zilch. If you have the answer, then by all means talk to me in the comments field below!
Update: Reader Linda solved the mystery: Garibaldi was one of the “Founding Fathers” of Italy. He was a General turned Politician
and was a force in the Unification of Italy in the mid 1800′s.
First things first: Bring 4 quarts of generously salted water (it should taste like seawater) to a full, rapid boil.
While you wait for the water to boil, grab a couple of chicken breasts. If the breasts are particularly thick, cut them lengthwise in half with a sharp knife.
Slice and dice the chicken, and set aside.
Next, take a small(ish) yellow onion…
Chop some fat garlic cloves, too.
Do you know the easy way to peel garlic? Just smash the cloves with a bottom of a stout drinking glass. The papery peel will slip right off.
Also, slice up 8 ounces of common white mushrooms. Or, just do what I did, and purchase the fungi already sliced.
If you plan to garnish this Penne Garibaldi with parsley (and why wouldn’t you?), this is the time to mince the leaves.
Now put some butter and olive oil in a big skillet (I used my electric version), and warm them over medium heat.
Add the chicken, and stir frequently with a polka-dotted spatula until the morsels are brown on both sides — about 7 minutes.
Then stir in the onion, lower heat, and cover the skillet. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent — about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, and saute for exactly 60 seconds.
Add the Italian seasoning, kosher salt, and grinds of black pepper.
Turn up the heat, take a deep breath, and tip 3/4 cup Marsala wine into the mixture. As the wine hits the pan, it will immediately release an intoxicating perfume. Cook until the wine reduces by half — about 5 minutes.
Note: Marsala wine is dreadful for drinking. But it’s delicious for cooking!
Then add 1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock (click here for my homemade version), and let the liquid bubble for about 4 minutes. Ah, more perfume.
While humming this fun tune, stir in 3/4 cup heavy cream (yes — heavy cream!). Let it bubble until the sauce thickens — about 3 minutes.
Now drop 16 ounces of pasta into the pot of furiously boiling water.
Which pasta? Well, Rigatoni is traditional.
Since I’m making this dish for my gluten-avoiding spouse, I used gluten-free Penne Rigate.
A short rant: Why can’t the sellers of gluten-free pasta package their products in the same sizes as their non-gluten-free counterparts? I mean, traditional pasta is commonly sold by the pound, or 16 ounces. But not gluten-free pastas! They are packaged in 12-ounce boxes and bags. Thus I had to purchase 2 bags, and ended up with half a bag leftover.
In any event, cook the pasta until al dente — firm to the tooth. My gluten-free penne was ready in 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
To serve, put some pasta on a plate, and top it with a generous amount of the chicken mixture and a healthy amount of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.
Sprinkle the works with minced parsley.
Then pour some decent Italian red wine…
I used this one — it’s full-bodied, like a Cabernet…
And tuck into this comforting, highly-aromatic, screamingly-delicious Penne Rigate Garibaldi!
Here’s the copy-and-paste:
Penne Rigate Garibaldi
Kevin Lee Jacobs’s version of a classical Italian dish
Ingredients for 4 servings
1 tablespoon butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 chickens breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs total), diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small-to-medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces sliced white mushrooms
1 generous teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grinds of black pepper
3/4 cup Marsala wine
1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream
16 ounces Penne Rigate or Rigatoni pasta (gluten-free will work)
Freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
Garnish: freshly minced flat-leaved ParsleyBring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil.
In a large skillet, heat the butter and oil over a medium flame. Add the diced chicken, and cook, stirring frequently, until browned — about 7 minutes.
Stir in the onion, cover the skillet, and lower the heat. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent — about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Return the heat to “medium,” and add the mushrooms, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and Marsala wine. Cook until the wine reduces by half — about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, and cook and stir until the sauce thickens — about 3 minutes. Keep warm.
Cook the pasta until al dente. If you are using gluten-free Penne Rigate, the cooking time will be 10 minutes. Drain well.
To serve, divide the pasta between 4 plates. Top with the chicken sauce and shredded Parmesan cheese, and, if you wish, a sprinkle of parsley. Delicious with a hunk of crusty sour dough boule, and goblets of a good, full-bodied Italian or French red wine.
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Brian from Cleveland says
Yum! Looks excellent and was just thinking what to make for Sunday supper. Thanks for the great idea!
Heidi Haas says
That looks so good!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Brian from Cleveland – You won’t regret making this dish. I promise!
johanna says
Mmm, it looks nice. Thank you.
Linda says
Kevin,
Garibaldi was one of the “Founding Fathers” of Italy He was a General turned Politician
and was a force in the Unification of Italy in the mid 1800’s.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Linda – Yay! Thanks for answering the Garibaldi question! I’ll add your comment to the article up top.
selma says
Looks yummy! How would it be to use a good Pinot Noir instead of the Marsala?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Selma – Marsala wine has a unique taste. But you can give this dish a French twist by substituting a good Pinot Noir, Boujelais, or Cabernet. Enjoy!
Mimi says
I live just a few miles from Garibaldi, Oregon on the Oregon coast, so of course I’ll be making this!
Tom says
Hi Kevin,
I note your emphasis on the use of heavy cream. I try to avoid that stuff. Would using Half and Half ruin the dish?
Tom
Vickie P. says
I can’t wait to try this dish, my mouth is watering! I feel your pain about the packaging. If you’re lucky enough to have some left over sauce, there’s always that partial bag of pasta 🙂
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
HI Tom – Heavy cream is the best, and most delicious, ingredient for thickening the sauce. If you try half and half, please let us know how the dish turns out for you!
myrtle miller says
Mushrooms are also an excellent source of copper which is good for treating inflammation. If you have arthritis foods that are high in copper will even address pain associated with inflammation. I have arthritis and found this out when I drank goats’ milk. I was also able to see the difference it made in my son’s stoma. If you have Crohn’s disease and can have copper adding foods high in copper to your diet can make a big difference.
Beverly, zone 6, eastern PA says
I always smash my garlic cloves with the side of my butcher knife, pounding my fist on the knife which sits on the garlic which sits on the cutting board. Never thought to use a drinking glass. You are full of interesting methods and details! A multi-dimensional guy…
I have noticed the regular pasta makers have been reducing the sizes of their boxes as well. You have to pay attention to the weights listed. I keep a small scale in the kitchen to weigh out half boxes or one third boxes when I am cooking for just two, and the weights are going downward while the prices go up.
Trudi Dido says
I ‘m with Brian, well not literally . We just had the same thought.
What’s for dinner tonight? ….question answered ! Thank you hmm can i buy wine in Ga on Sunday . well no . hmmmm
Madeline Reed says
I love your posts! Thank you so much.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Madeline Reed – Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to comment!
Hi Beverly – I used to use the flat of a knife (or my fist) to smash garlic. Much easier with a stout drinking glass!
Hi Trudi – Georgia still has “blue laws?” I did not know. New York eliminated them several years ago, and now everybody’s tipsy. I mean happy.
Jeanne Falkenstein says
If I used bottled garlic — what would be the approximate equivilant?
Thanks.
Terri Burton says
Yum, Yum, thanks!!!
Tricia B. says
It may be called “Garibaldi” because it uses Marsala wine. On 11 May 1860, Garibaldi and his troops landed at Marsala, the westernmost point of Sicily, and went on to liberate Sicily from its then rulers, the Bourbons, in the name of King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia.
(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_of_the_Thousand)
Wendy Aycoth says
Just made this for dinner, insanely delicious!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Jeanne – I’m not familiar with bottled garlic, so unfortunately can’t advise you on quantity.
Hi Tricia B. – Great historical info. Thanks for that!
Hi Wendy Aycoth – Thanks for trying this dish. So glad you liked it!
Veronica says
ohhhh, just wanna eat off the laptop, this looks excellently yummy
Arlene S says
This looks so mouth watering delicious. Will be trying. But where do you find all of your neato cooking utensils?
Georgette says
Hi Kevin,
I tried this wonderful dish but I didn’t have any parsley. Soooo instead of omitting completely I used fresh mint. The it was excellent and very interesting but I will try it again with the parsley.
Debbie says
OMG! This looks MARVELOUS DAHLING!
I’ll be trying this one SOON… like THIS WEEK! 🙂
Ann says
Out of this world…..made no changes. Will add to my “Entertaining for ‘Big Wigs’ file”!
Mike says
Another Garibaldi note. There is a very large mountain named Mount Garibaldi, named after the Italian General/politician here in south/west BC, in Garibaldi provincial park, right next to the Whistler Mountain ski resort. Which is appropriate, I think, because this looks like an excellent recipe after a day on the slopes!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Mike – Great info!
LynnB says
My mother has made this dish for about 40 years – since we came to Australia in fact – but we call it chicken marsala and eat it with rice. It’s delicious.
And for Jeanne – one teaspoon of bottled garlic (the wet stuff, not dried garlic) is equal to one clove of garlic approximately.
Julie M. says
Loved the little dog toy in the photo with the chopped chicken! I haven’t seen one of those since I was probably eleven. Didn’t they come in the Fisher Price farm set? Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi LynnB – Thanks for the bottled garlic advice. I’ve yet to try it!
Hi Julie M. – So glad you recognized the little dog. It is indeed from Fisher Price!
gina says
Since my parsley is exclusively grown for my caterpillars I am wondering about tarragon? I shall see
Susie says
I made this last night for dinner and it was so delicious! Thank you Kevin for all of your yummy recipes!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Gina – Got tarragon? Be sure to try my Chicken & Mushrooms in Tarragon Cream!
Hi Susie – Thanks so much for trying the Penne Rigate Garibaldi. So glad you liked it!
stephanie says
Just tried this out but ended up with a tasty soup than a creamy pasta dish. Still quite flavorful. I checked all the amounts and used as directed. Maybe I needed to reduce the marsala more?Maybe my mushrooms created more water? Maybe as leftovers it will thicken up.
Katie Zack says
Kevin- made this last week and this week! My son and I loved it but the sauce was thin last week so I was more assertive with my reduction this time. Lovely! Thanks for all the fabulous recipes. Really need that cookbook though, it’s heck reading recipes on an iPhone!!
Susan says
Thanks for the delicious looking recipe! I’m going to make this when our family gets together next weekend. All of your recipes I have tried so far have been great! I hope the cookbook comes out soon so I can gift it to all of my friends 🙂
Michele Reeves says
OMG! This is a great recipe! Made it yesterday and it was great. Everyone loved it! Thanks for all the great recipes!
Connie in AR says
My chicken didn’t want to brown and I was afraid of over cooking, so I drained and added another Tbs butter; helped a little. I had to use Pinot Noir and portabello mushrooms, because that is what I had on hand. Mine came out quite soupy as well. However, it tastes delicious! Do you think the store bought chicken had moisture added to it?
By the way, I like the new app.
Diane C says
Hi Kevin, I cannot wait to try this recipe. I will probably substitute sliced peppers for the mushrooms. I think it should work.
Jamie Shafer says
Since I never discovered I was allergic to gluten, I have always used regular pasta but from Italy where the wheat is hopefully free of glyphosate. However, when I looked at the pic of the pasta bag, I was appalled to see the word soy as one of the ingredients, and soy is one of the agricultural products that is supposed to be 100 percent GMO with no exceptions. Having had and survived three kinds of cancer, throat, bladder and breast, i never use soy in any form since it is an estrogen mimicker, and estrogen feeds breast cancer. So it appears you can’t win for trying as the old saying goes – I think. Anyhow maybe you should ask your spouse which sword he wants to die on!
Sorry for the gallows humor, but I couldn’t help myself. lol.
Thanks for the most enjoyable blog; I wait all week t see what your weekly offering is, and the photos and recipes never fail to pique my delight and interest. The house is wonderful, and the garden lovely and carry us to a place where the sturm und drang of the world is kept at bay for at least a little while – even if Monsanto and the Congress critters got a well deserved whack this week. Will be borrowing big time from your post and comments on Monsanto and GMO to share with my own list.
carol hanson says
hi kevin, this recipe is delicious! thank you for your wonderful cookbook!
my granddaughter Linnea loves her’s, as she is an aspiring young cook…
I love your weekly blog..I look forward to reading it every Sunday morning
thank you!