Read Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 Online
Authors: Todd Wilbur
Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (33 page)
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OLIVE GARDEN TOASTED RAVIOLI
Sold as a finger-food appetizer along with marinara dipping sauce, Olive Garden’s delicious breaded ravioli can be cloned with ease using one of several varieties of premade raviolis carried in just about any supermarket. It’s best to use the fresher raviolis found in the refrigerated section, but you can also use frozen raviolis; you just have to let them thaw first before breading them. The Toasted Ravioli at O.G. has a beefy inside, but you can use any ravioli that tickles your fancy including chicken, sausage, vegetarian, or cheese. As for the breading, find Progresso brand Italian style breadcrumbs. Contadina is another popular brand, but their version is much too salty for a good clone.
6 to 10 cups canola oil (as
required by fryer)
1 egg, beaten
I cup milk
1 cup Progresso Italian style
breadcrumbs
12 premade beef raviolis (fresh, or
if frozen, thawed)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
cheese
ON THE SIDE½ cup marinara sauce, wormed
1. Preheat the oil in your deep fryer to 325 degrees.
2. Combine the beaten egg with the milk in shallow bowl. Pour the breadcrumbs into another shallow bowl.
3. Bread the ravioli by dipping each one in the milk and egg, then into the breadcrumbs. Arrange the breaded ravioli on a plate and let them sit for 5 minutes so that the breading sticks like a champ.
4. When the raviolis have rested, drop a handful into the oil. Depending on the size of your fryer, you may want to fry the raviolis in batches so they aren’t too crowded. Fry the breaded raviolis for 1 to 2 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Remove them to a draining rack or a paper-towel lined plate.
5. When all the raviolis are cooked, arrange them on a serving plate and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese over the top. Serve the dish with a small bowl of warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.
• SERVES 3 TO 4 AS AN APPETIZER.
OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“White and red beans, ground beef, tomatoes and pasta in a savory broth.”
“White and red beans, ground beef, tomatoes and pasta in a savory broth.”
It’s amazing how many lousy clone recipes for this delicious chili-like soup are floating around the Internet. Cooking message boards, and questionable sites that claim to have “actual restaurant recipes” have for years passed off numerous versions only to have disappointed home chefs waste ingredients. What’s puzzling is they leave out major ingredients that you can clearly see in the real thing, like the carrots, or ground beef, or two kinds of beans. Others don’t even get the pasta right—it’s obviously ditali pasta, which are short little tubes. So, if you want the taste of Olive Garden’s famous Pasta e Fagioli at home, this may be the only recipe out there that will live up to a side-by-side taste test. Beware of imitation imitations!
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced (I cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (I cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (I cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans
(with liquid)
1 15-ounce can Great Northern
beans (with liquid)
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 12-ounce can V-8 juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme½ pound (½ pkg.) ditali pasta
1. Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Drain off most of the fat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and saute for 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. About 50 minutes into the simmering, cook the pasta in 1½ to 2 quarts of boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just until pasta is
al dente
, or slightly tough. Drain.
5. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more and serve.
• SERVES 8.
OLIVE GARDEN MINESTRONE SOUP
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Fresh vegetables, beans and pasta in a light tomato broth
—
a vegetarian classic.”
“Fresh vegetables, beans and pasta in a light tomato broth
—
a vegetarian classic.”
This classic Italian soup is jam-packed with beans, zucchini, onion, tomatoes, carrots, pasta, and spices; but O.G.’s secret formula doesn’t include chicken broth. Canned vegetable broth found in the soup aisle of most markets works as a base here in this secret formula that bursts with flavor as a purely vegetarian dish.
3 tablespoons olive oil
I cup minced white onion (about
I small onion)
½ cup chopped zucchini
½ cup frozen cut Italian green
beans
¼ cup minced celery (about
½
stalk)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (about
4 cloves)
4 cups vegetable broth (Swanson
is good)
2 15-ounces cans red kidney
beans, drained
2 15-ounce cans small white
beans or Great
Northern beans,
drained
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
½
cup julienned or shredded
carrot
2 tablespoons minced fresh
parsley
1
½
teaspoons dried oregano
1
½
teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried basil
¼
teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
3 cups hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach
½ cup small seashell pasta
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or stockpot. Saute onion, zucchini, green beans, celery and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes or until onion begins to turn translucent.
2. Add broth to pot, plus drained beans, tomatoes, carrot, spices, bay leaves, and hot water Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired soupy thickness.
• MAKES ABOUT EIGHT 1½-CUP SERVINGS.
OLIVE GARDEN CHICKEN SCAMPI
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Chicken breast tenderloins sautéed with bell peppers, roosted garlic and onions in a garlic cream sauce over angel hair.”
“Chicken breast tenderloins sautéed with bell peppers, roosted garlic and onions in a garlic cream sauce over angel hair.”
This dish is a big favorite of Olive Garden regulars. Chicken tenderloins are lightly breaded and sautéed along with colorful bell peppers and chopped red onion. Angel hair pasta is tossed into the pan along with a healthy dose of fresh scampi sauce. Then it’s time to ring the dinner bell. If you’re cooking for two, you can prepare this dish for the table in one large skillet, saving the remaining ingredients for another meal. If you’re making all four servings at once, you need two skillets. By the way, if you can’t find fresh chicken tenderloins (the tender part of the chicken breast), you can usually find big bags of them in the freezer section, If that’s how you buy them, you’ll have plenty left over after this recipe, but they’re really good to have around.
SCAMPI SAUCE3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced white onion
¼
cup minced garlic (8 to 12
cloves)
1
½
cups Chablis wine
½
teaspoon salt
½
teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
flakes
¼
teaspoon ground black
pepper
2
teaspoons minced fresh
parsley
1 cup heavy cream
5 to 6 quarts water
16 ounces angel hair pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
12 chicken tenderloins
½
cup all-purpose flour
1 green bell pepper, cut into
bite-size strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-
size strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into bitesize
strips
1 chopped red onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
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