Spicy Chicken Rigatoni

Here's a dish that a friend turned me onto one night when we were out having dinner at Bucca Debeppo. Though I didn't have the dish that night, I did have on another visit to Bucca and I thought it was amazing. The key to reproducing this dish was to find a sauce that tasted similar to Bucca's which they make from scratch. Vodka sauce is the ticket and I like Trader Joe's version because it's the most healthy, but still has all the flavor. Second, use Barilla Mezzi Rigatoni if you can find it because Barilla is the best pasta! Mezzi rigatoni means "short rigatoni" and is best for this dish.

 Ingredients:

1/2 lb. (1/2 box) Mezzi Rigatoni (short rigatoni)

1 jar Trader Joe's vodka pasta sauce

1 Chicken breast, poached and shredded

1/8 Teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preparation:

Prepare a large stock pot with liberally salted water. Cook the pasta according to the directions, in this case perfect al dente in 12-13 minutes.

Heat the vodka sauce, shredded chicken breast and red pepper flakes up in a 12" sauté pan. The reason you're using a sauté  pan is because you're going to finish the dish in it.

When your pasta is done, drain and add pasta the sauté pan.  Cook the pasta and sauce together for two minutes. Serve with grated cheese and additional red pepper flakes if you like it more spicy.