Olive Garden Penne Romana ( Copycat )

Submitted by Sharon123

"Inspired by Romana Neri, head chef at Olive Garden Riserva di Fizzano restaurant in Tuscany and the Culinary Institute of Tuscany, this is a simple and delicious pasta dish with fresh green beans, tomatoes and extra-virgin olive oil tossed with penne in a white wine herb sauce. Adapted from Lanier Publishing. There is a large Italian population in New England!"

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• Romana Sauce

• 1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3⁄4 cup yellow onion, chopped in 1/4-inch pieces
• 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 1⁄2 cups chicken broth (or veg. broth)

• Pasta

• 2 cups green beans, blanched
• 1 cup tomatoes, diced
• 4 cups penne pasta, cooked
• 3 tablespoons romano cheese
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

directions

1. Romana Sauce:

2. Heat the oil in a small saucepan at medium high heat. Add onions and crushed red pepper. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in wine, rosemary, parsley and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk cornstarch and chicken or vegetable broth. Add mixture to sauce and stir well. Bring to a boil and set aside.

4. Pasta:

5. Heat saute pan over medium heat. Add green beans and tomato and cook for 1 minute. Add Romana sauce and hot, cooked and drained penne pasta. Add Romano and Parmesan cheeses. Stir well with a spoon, making sure the pasta is well coated.
6. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Auntie Jan]

This was very good. I too cut the liquid by half so as not to make it soupy. I used just a tad more cornstarch and it thickened up after I let it sit a bit. I would definately make this again. Thanks for the nice change of "pasta" pace.

 

[KateL]

Delightful, loved the aroma of the Romana Sauce while cooking, launched a debate as to which dish "starred" (we served this with Recipe#306681). We decided we were silly, because both of our dishes were superior, and could be the star of any meal. If you are omnivore, you could add torn up rotisserie chicken or cooked shrimp to make this a complete meal. I included a photo of Step 5, in which I had 6 oz. of dry penne pasta, cooked; we ended up straining it a bit to eat with Recipe#306681 on the main plate. I loved, loved, loved this dish! Made for Rookie Recipe Tag.

 

[Chef1MOM-Connie]

Very good and light meal. A different type of pasta sish for hubby and I and perfect for such a cold fall evening. I did add in some leftover chicken shreds from dinner (Tues.) at the last minute to warm through. What a delight this was. Served with homemade rye bread and shredded mozzerella cheese for garnish. Made for Think Pink 2010 in Honor of Sharon 123's husband.

 

[Cook4_6]

This recipe was wonderful. I made it for my family a few nights ago and it got rave reviews. My husband took the leftovers for lunch yesterday and his coworkers were lured into the cafeteria by the aroma coming from the microwave. I took a previous reviewers suggestion and reduced the chicken broth to 1 cup. That resulted in a perfect consistency in the sauce. I also cooked the green beans in the microwave instead of blanching them. In addition, I doubled the amount of diced tomatos because I like them. The result was fabulous and I will definitely make it again.

 

[PaulaG]

This has a very nice blending of flavors. The only problem I had was the amount of liquid. Since I have never had this at the Olive Garden, I am not sure how it is meant to be. I did not add all the sauce or it would have been way to liquid, probably more like a soup and I didn't think that was right. I would have prefered the sauce to have been thicker and about 1/2 of what was called for. Thanks for posting this recipe.