My sister-in-law is going off to college this fall, and we wanted to make her a special dinner. So once again, I turned to the Olive Garden Recipes site–and we were not disappointed!
We made the Chicken Castellina, Bruschetta al Pomodoro, and a variation on the broccoli and tomatoes from this recipe. The Chicken Castellina was outstanding! Every bit as good as a dish you would find at my favorite Macaroni Grill! In fact, I told my husband that I must have chosen the wrong dishes when I’ve gone to Olive Garden, because none of them were as good as the two we have made at home, using their recipes! (Once again, photo is straight from Olive Garden’s website because we were too busy cooking, watching the toddlers, and eating to take pictures!)
We love sun-dried tomatoes. Love Gouda cheese. Parmesan cheese. Bacon. Chicken.
How can you go wrong with all these ingredients in a sauce of white wine, butter, milk, and cream?!?! (I have to acknowledge what is quite obvious: this recipe would not be on the Weight Watcher’s list–or even permissible for someone in that program!) I didn’t even bother to look at the nutritional information, because with all those ingredients, I’m convinced there were more calories in that dish than I should ever even think about!
But we absolutely loved it! I used campanelle pasta because I saw several “new limited time” Olive Garden dishes using that type of pasta. We liked it.
The Bruschetta was okay. I think I cut the bread too thick. And we heated it in the toaster oven instead of the grill. And I had dry basil, instead of fresh. (I know, I know–one chef described dry basil as barely a “step above pencil shavings.”) So my adjustments explain why it was just okay.
But when you follow the recipe to a ‘t,’ like we did with the Chicken Castellina, I don’t think you’re going to find a recipe on Olive Garden’s site that isn’t gourmet quality!
Hey, if I can do it, you can too!