| |

Copycat Johnny Carino’s Italian Nachos

From the menu at Johnny Carino’s:

Italian Nachos – Crispy pasta chips baked with ground Italian sausage and/or sliced grilled chicken, pepperoncini peppers, black olives, roma tomatoes and jalapenos. Topped with creamy alfredo sauce, melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

I think we got everything here except the black olives and tomatoes. This is so incredibly yummy.


Italian Nachos – Johnny Carino’s Copycat
Serves 2-4

  • 1 Package wontons (found in the produce section), cut on the diagonal to form triangles
  • 1 package ground pork, cook in a saute pan until browned
  • 1 6-ounce package grilled chicken pieces (sometimes found in the salad section)
  • 1 jar Pepperochini peppers (I got mild)
  • Shaved Parmesan for garnish
  • 2 roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 cup sliced olives
  • jalepenos (optional)

For the Cheese Sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
  • 2 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or other good-quality Parmesan

1. In a heavy, medium saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic and then the flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the half-and-half little by little. Cook until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat; add 2 cups of the grated Parmesan. Season with the salt, pepper and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and set aside.

2. Heat a heavy saucepan or deep fryer to medium. Cook the wontons until light brown. This only takes a few seconds per side. Set aside on paper towels to drain.

3. Pile the wontons on a large serving platter. Drizzle with warm cheese sauce. Add sausage, chicken, tomatoes, olives and peppers. Top with shaved Parmesan.

Cheese sauce recipe by Michael Chiarello. Recipe put together by me.

Leave a Reply

Please note that I am in the process of converting older recipes to the new format since my site migrated. If the recipe you are interested in doesn’t have a printable recipe card, please leave a comment and I will update it as soon as I am able to. Thanks for understanding!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

3 Comments