The Chefs Black Book

Olive Garden Chicken Formaggio Pizza

4 ounces Chicken breast; bone -- skin
1 tablespoon Olive oil
2 tablespoons Onions -- dice
1 cup Tomatoes; drain -- dice
1 teaspoon Garlic -- chop
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Dried basil
1/2 cup Fontinella cheese -- shred
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese -- shred
1/2 cup Mushrooms -- slice
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese -- shred
1 12" pre-baked pizza crust

Preheat oven to 450~F. Saute or bake chicken breast. Cool.
Cut into 1/4" wide strips. Spray or grease a 12" pizza pan.
Saute onions and garlic briefly in the olive oil and add them
to the tomatoes,salt and basil.Spread the tomato mixture over
the top of the crust. Lay chicken strips down over the tomatoes.
Top with fontinella and mozzarella cheeses. Add the sliced mushooms
and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450 degrees F. for 8
minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is piping hot.

Olive Garden Tiramisu Dessert

1 sponge cake (10-12") - about 3" tall
3 oz strong black coffee
3 oz brandy or rum
1½ lbs mascarpone - room temp
1½ cups superfine/powdered sugar
unsweetened cocoa powder

Cut across middle of sponge cake forming two layers,
each about 1½" high. Blend coffee and brandy.
Sprinkle enough of mixture over bottom half of cake to
flavor it strongly. Don't moisten cake too much or it
may collapse on serving. Beat room-temperature cheese and
1 cup sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and cheese
is light and spreadable. test for sweetness during beating,
adding more sugar if needed. Spread cut surface of bottom
layer with half of the cheese mixture. Replace second layer
and top this with remaining cheese mixture. Sprinkle top
liberally with sifted cocoa. Refrigerate cake for at least
2 hours before cutting and serving.

Olive Garden Breadsticks

1 Loaf unfrozen bread dough - (if frozen, thaw in bowl at room temp)
Pam or oil
Garlic powder
Dry oregano leaf -- rub between fingers
When dough is soft enough to knead, spray your fingers with Pam
or oil and knead just until you can shape into cigar-sized pieces
(about 8 to 10). Place these 3" apart on Pam-sprayed cookie sheets.
Let rise in warm place until doubled - about 1-1/2 hours. Then
holding Pam about 8" from sticks, lightly spray top of each and
then dust with garlic powder and oregano. Bake at 375~ about 20 to
25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on rack to serve
within a day or two.
Olive Garden Breadsticks are just brown and serve soft breadsticks.
Brown in the oven and spread liquid margarine over them, then
sprinkle with garlic salt

Olive Garden® Pasta e Fagioli

It's amazing how many lousy clones for this delicious
chili-like soup from Olive Garden are floating around on the Web.
Some are shared on message boards, others are displayed on sites
in a collection of "actual restaurant recipes" (yeah, right!).
But they all leave out obvious ingredients you can see, like the
carrots, ground beef, or two kinds of beans. Others don't get
the pasta right -- it's obviously ditali pasta (short little tubes).
Then there's the recipe that really squeezed the seeds from my
gourd -- one that's floating around in MasterCook format that
lists "Top Secret Recipes" as the source. But, wait a minute!
I've never before created a clone for this dish -- not here on
the site, and not in any book. So, after logging some time over
a chopping block, an open flame, and a couple tasty glasses of
Merlot, out popped this puppy. And this is the one, kitchen cloners!
If you want the taste of Pasta e Fagioli at home, this is the
only recipe that will fool in a side-by-side taste test. Accept
no other imitation imitation!

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 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 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound (1/2 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 sauté for 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. About 50 minutes into simmer time, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 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 5-10 minutes
and serve.
Serves 8.