Olive Garden Chicken Giardino

Few people know that the Olive Garden (OG) has some recipes on it's website! Not all of their recipes are on there but many of the dishes they "discontinued" serving are listed, so check it out!  My best friend and I LOVE this dish, we would drive an hour to the OG just to get Chicken Giardino, breadsticks and salad.  We were devastated when they stopped serving it so it was awesome when we found this recipe, we made it immediately!  This dish takes some time to make and it makes A LOT (probably like 8 LARGE servings) but it's definitely worth it! You can just freeze the left overs and it almost tastes better re-heated.

Chicken Giardino!

INGREDIENTS:

Sauce: **We doubled the sauce recipe listed on the site because the ingredients actually turn out to be a lot more than expected and who doesn't love extra sauce right?
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp garlic pepper
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Chicken:
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced width-wise into ½” strips
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 small rosemary sprigs
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Juice of ½ lemon

Vegetables:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ bunch fresh asparagus (remove bottom inch of stem; cut remainder into 1” pieces)
1 zucchini, julienne cut
1 yellow summer squash, julienne cut
2 roma tomatoes, cut into ½” pieces
½ red bell pepper, julienne cut
1 cup broccoli florets, blanched
½ cup frozen peas
1 cup spinach, cut into ½” pieces
½ cup carrots, julienne cut

Pasta:
1 lb farfalle pasta (bow ties), cooked according to package directions

DIRECTIONS:

Sauce Preparation:

1. MELT butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in thyme, garlic pepper and rosemary. Whisk to thoroughly blend and cook for 1 minute.
2. COMBINE chicken broth, water, wine, milk, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Add cornstarch and whisk until cornstarch has dissolved and there are no lumps.
3. ADD liquid mixture to sauce pan. Whisk all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then remove from heat.

Chicken & Vegetables Preparation:

1. COMBINE all chicken ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend well.
2. MARINATE for 30 minutes.
3. HEAT a saute pan over medium high heat. Add ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil.
4. SAUTE chicken strips until internal temperature reaches 165°F. ***I grilled the chicken on a George Foreman grill instead of sauteing them
5. ADD all vegetables and sauté until cooked through.
6. ADD cooked, drained pasta and sauce to sauté pan. Stir until pasta is thoroughly coated with sauce.
7. TRANSFER to a serving platter and garnish with chopped parsley.

PICTURES OF PROCESS:


Veggies and all other ingredients!

Grilled Chicken and Mini Farfalle Pasta (yes, mini, I love mini pasta!)

Mixing the sauce

Cooked veggies, then putting everything together

Chicken Giardino with some shredded Parmesan cheese, time to eat!