From the menu of ... Sugo Restaurant, 408 S. Atlanta St., Roswell. 770-641-9131, www.sugorestaurant.com
Q. Every time we go to dinner at Sugo Restaurant we order Aunt Lena's Chicken, which is delicious. We want to try other items on the menu, but we find it difficult to pass up our favorite. Please, please see whether you can get this recipe so we can make it at home and enjoy Sugo's other fine dishes. Thanks. — Jack and Angel LaBate, Cumming
A. Aunt Lena's Chicken is a great restaurant dish, a combination of many components the restaurant would typically have on hand. For example, the folks at Sugo make their own tomato-basil and Alfredo sauces. For home cooks, we're suggesting a few shortcuts, such as store-bought pasta sauces.
The chicken is served over garganelli pasta, a ridged penne-type shape that can be difficult to find at the grocery store. Substitute another relatively large pasta shape so the nooks and crannies of the pasta can trap the sauce. The mozzarella/provolone blend of cheeses can be found labeled as Italian-style cheese blend at the grocery store.
While this appears to be a complicated recipe, it actually goes together very quickly.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you'd like to make at home? Tell us and we'll try to get it. We'll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can't answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put "From the menu of" and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.
Sugo's Aunt Lena's Chicken
Hands on: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
4 (10-ounce) chicken breasts, trimmed
3 cups garganelli pasta or other style pasta
2 cups tomato-basil pasta sauce, divided
1 cup Alfredo pasta sauce
2 tablespoons cream sherry
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
4 large leaves fresh basil
4 slices prosciutto
4 pitted dates
1 cup mixture shredded mozzarella/provolone cheeses
2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
In a small skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until onion caramelizes, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
While onion is cooking, Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Put flour in one pie plate. In another pie plate, beat eggs and milk. Put bread crumbs in a third pie plate. Dip each chicken breast first in flour, turning to coat all sides; then in egg mixture and finally in bread crumbs. Pat to make sure bread crumbs adhere and move chicken to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts. Discard remaining breading mixtures. Bake chicken 15 minutes or just until cooked through.
While chicken is baking, prepare pasta according to package directions. Cook just until al dente. Drain and keep warm.
While pasta is cooking, in a small saucepan, make a pink sauce by combining 1 cup tomato-basil sauce and Alfredo sauce and warming over medium heat. When sauce is warm, stir in sherry and reduce heat to very low.
When chicken is done, remove from oven, leaving oven on. Divide remaining tomato-basil pasta sauce evenly over chicken breasts. Divide Romano cheese into four portions and sprinkle over pasta sauce. Top each breast with 1 basil leaf and 1 slice prosciutto. Divide reserved caramelized onions between chicken breasts. Top each chicken breast with a date. Divide mozzarella/provolone cheese into four portions and sprinkle over each chicken breast. Return baking sheet to oven and heat chicken until cheese has melted and is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
While chicken is in the oven, divide spinach between 4 serving dishes. In a large bowl, toss cooked pasta with 1 cup reserved pink sauce and divide pasta between serving dishes. Top pasta with chicken breast and spoon 1/4 cup pink sauce over each chicken breast. Serve immediately.
Per serving: 1,124 calories (percent of calories from fat, 28), 97 grams protein, 105 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams fiber, 35 grams fat (16 grams saturated), 328 milligrams cholesterol, 1,716 milligrams sodium.
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