My Version: Carino's Spicy Romano Chicken

jennybug's Note:

My favorite restaurant in the world is Johnny Carino's (a.k.a Carino's Italian Grill) and my favorite recipe is their Spicy Romano Chicken. Well I've tried other recipes that I thought were close but I recently tried a recipe by Guy Fieri and after a few changes I think I've come up with a pretty close alternative. I will make one change when I make it again : I will skip slicing the chicken and just put one breast on each plate. I hope this recipe is enjoyed. I must add that I give Guy all the praise for this recipe :-)

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 2.0 cup

• 4 skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup blackening seasoning
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups mushrooms , chopped
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic cloves
• 1 cup roughly chopped marinated sun-dried tomato (or fresh)
• ¼ cup white wine or ¼ cup chicken stock
• 1 quart heavy cream (or half n half)
• ¾ cup parmesan cheese
• ½ cup grated romano cheese
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 12 ounces marinated artichoke hearts
• 1 lb cooked bow tie pasta
• ½ cup scallion

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Dredge the chicken breasts in blackening spice and place in a cast iron skillet over very high heat. Blacken both sides of the chicken and place in the oven for 10 minutes, or until juices run clear. Slice in strips and set aside.
3. In a saute pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Add mushrooms,garlic and cook until mushrooms have released most of their liquid. Then add the sun-dried tomatoes and the chicken slices. Pour the white wine or chicken stock in the pan and scrape pan. Add the heavy cream, increase the heat to a simmer, and reduce the cream sauce by half.
4. When the cream sauce is to desired consistency, stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup romano cheese, salt and pepper. Before serving open your artichoke hearts and slice in half. Drain well and put in pan, let cook til warm. I used the ready to serve artichoke hearts.
5. Nest the pasta on large rimmed plates, pour sauce over pasta, and garnish with scallions and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.

Reviews

[VoiceTeach]

Excellent! I made it for my wife for Mother's Day and she loved it (I did, too). I made a few alterations: I used cajun seasoning (Tony's) on the chicken and grilled it until it was a little past half done. It finished cooking in the sauce and remained very tender. I also used asparagus instead of artichoke hearts. I sauteed it with the garlic & mushrooms. Terrific recipe!

[Lorrie in Montreal]

Made for Iron Chef Tag game. I really enjoyed this...the only thing I did'nt use was the blackening seasoning so I just used a spice blend of my own.