Freaking Delicious Deconstructed Chicken and Arugula Recipe

One of the first cookbooks that I acquired, when cooking first piqued my interest in high school, was Rocco Dispirito’s Real Life Recipes. To be honest, his dashing good looks were what first attracted me to the book, but his simplistic recipes were easy to construct for a beginner cook. Real Life Recipes consists of both classic Italian and twists on Italian fare. I made his deconstructed ravioli in high school over and over. The original idea and quick steps intrigued a newfound ability to be inventive with recipes. With Rocco’s inspiration, I present to you my take on a deconstructed ravioli.

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1-2 oz of pine nuts (optional)
• 6 tablespoons of olive oil
• 10 oz of baby portobello mushrooms
• Salt
• Pepper
• 8 lasagna noodles
• 1 pound of ground chicken
• Dried oregano
• 5 cups of arugula
• 8 oz of mascarpone
• 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of parmesan

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pine nuts on a baking sheet and roast until golden for about 8 minutes. Roughly chop the nuts and reserve.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
3. Meanwhile, slice the mushrooms, add to the heated skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the mushrooms release their liquid.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the lasagna noodles until cooked to preference. (Tip: Add olive oil to parchment or wax paper and place lasagna noodles in a single layer to keep warm.)
5. Add the ground chicken to the mushrooms in the pan. Break up the ground chicken for even cooking. Add salt, pepper and dried oregano to taste.
6. Wilt the arugula in the chicken skillet.  
7. Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the mascarpone and pine nuts.
8. Cut the all the lasagna noodles in half. Spoon the chicken and mushroom mixture onto a half of the lasagna noodle and top with the other half of the lasagna noodle.
9. Whisk together the white wine vinegar, parmesan, and remaining olive oil. Add this vinegar mixture to the top of the finished deconstructed ravioli.

Tweet us @LitDarling on your thoughts about this recipe!