Romano's Macaroni Grill Penne Rustica

Sandylee's Note:

The sauce is the key to this recipe....HEAVY CREAM, PARMESAN CHEESE, WINE, etc. with CHICKEN & SHRIMP, cooking the penne pasta is the easy part. This recipe makes an ample amount, and too tricky for me to attempt to scale it down. I am posting it to take advantage of Recipezaar's calculations to reduce a recipe. I'm not sure how much this recipe feeds, but I am going to guess at 8-10 servings.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 15

Gratinata sauce use 4 1/2 cups

• 2 teaspoons butter
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
• 1 cup marsala wine
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 8 cups heavy cream

Penne Rustica

• 1 ounce pancetta or 1 ounce bacon
• 18 shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 12 ounces grilled chicken breasts, sliced
• 16 -24 ounces penne pasta, cooked
• 3 teaspoons chopped pimiento
• 6 ounces butter
• 1 teaspoon chopped shallot
• 1 pinch salt and pepper
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 6 sprigs fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. For Gratinata Sauce: Saute butter, garlic, and rosemary until garlic begins to brown.
2. Add Marsala wine and reduce by one-third.
3. Add remaining ingredients, reduce by half of the original volume.
4. Set aside.
5. For Penne Rustica: Saute pancetta until it begins to brown.
6. Add butter, shallots, and shrimp.
7. Cook until shrimp are evenly pink but still translucent.
8. Add chicken, salt, pepper, and mix thoroughly.
9. Add gratinata sauce and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.
10. Simmer until sauce thickens.
11. In a large bowl, combine shrimp& chicken mixture with the cooked pasta.
12. Pour into a large casserole dish or roaster.
13. Top with remaining cheese, pimientos and sprinkle with paprika.
14. Bake at 475 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.
15. Remove and garnish with fresh rosemary sprig.

Reviews

[fairestoneofall]

I found this recipe on another website and have made it several times. It is perfect and feeds quite the crowd. I always make 1.5 the sauce then split it and put one casserole in the freezer for later since it's so time consuming. LOVE IT THOUGH!!

[newlywedws]

Oh wow! I couldn't tell that this was made at home -it was exactly like the Macaroni Grill's Penne Rustica. I did make some changes though - I used proscuitto (simply b/c that's what Macaroni Grill uses) and I opted to use roasted red peppers instead of the pimento. I also added a small amount (@ 1/2 tsp garlic powder to the sauce) and some emeril's essence. Wow this was ultra yummy!

[Mom of 3 hungry boys]

I also made this for my BF and it was way too heavy. So this time I am cutting down on the butter and cream. I also tossed some fresh spinach into it and YUMMY.