The best thing about making copycat versions of restaurant dishes is not only can you recreate them in your own home, but you can improve upon them as well! This Olive Garden chicken and shrimp carbonara provides the basic recipe which you can change or tweak according to preference. One of the main differences here is that we don't see the need in crumbing the chicken. It can be delicious, but by the time you mix it into the creamy carbonara sauce, any crispiness will soon become soggy, so we at oneHOWTO see it as a little bit of a waste of time. If you do want to do it, check out our chicken in white sauce and make the chicken accordingly. You can use panko bread crumbs to get it as crispy as possible.
Start your Olive Garden chicken and shrimp carbonara by arranging the ingredients. We are using a mixture of cream and whole milk, but this is definitely not a healthy dish. If you want to make it a little lighter, use milk only and replace the butter with the same amount of olive oil. It still won't be very healthy, but it won't be as heavy.
Turn the garlic into a paste. Mix it in with the butter and add both to a pan on low heat. Add the panceta (chopped bacon pieces) and sauté lightly for 1 minute. Add the flour, stir into a paste and then slowly add the cream and milk. Beat together as you heat to create a béchamel sauce. Add the grated cheese and stir in. When the cheese has melted and thickened, season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Cook the pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Remember to add a pinch of salt to the water, but not any oil (as many recipes instruct you to do).
Cut the chicken into pieces and sauté in a pan with a little oil until golden brown. Just before the end, add the shrimp and cook until they change color and also start to turn golden brown. You should devein them and remove the heads, but you can leave the tails on if you wish. Add the dried oregano and season.
If the carbonara sauce has cooled, heat it up again and stir the cooked and drained pasta into it. Add the chicken, but not the shrimp. Once the sauce has warmed up, add the chopped fresh basil and stir in. Serve the pasta in dishes and place the shrimp on top for a nicer presentation. You can add more cheese, more seasoning or even a different herb such as dill to round out the flavor.
If you have made this dish yourself, let us know how it went by leaving as message in the comments below.
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