Chicken Piccata

There are some Italian dishes that you have and think, this must be complicated to make so I will just order it out. Penne Alla Vodka, Chicken Marsala, Chicken Piccata, to name a few. But surprise! They're not that difficult to make at home. 

I start by drenching my chicken cutlets in flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. No egg for this. We're not making chicken cutlets per say, but we want a slight coat on the chicken and the flour helps to thicken the sauce.

Drizzle some olive oil and a tablespoon or so of butter into a hot frying pan. You're going to lightly brown each side of the chicken pieces before transferring them to a baking dish. You could cook them throughout in the frying pan but I prefer to cook them almost through and then bake them all in the sauce for ten minutes or so, this way they are all done and warm at the same time.

Once all your chicken is browned and in the baking dish, deglaze that same pan with about half a cup of white wine. You could use a cup of chicken broth in it's place but the flavor of the wine makes it so much more delicious. Once your alcohol cooks off, add a tablespoon of butter, half a cup of chicken broth(if you used wine instead of chicken broth in the first place) and bring to a simmer. Add capers and fresh lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice makes ALL the difference. Plus then you can also have fresh lemon slices for pizazz. For this recipe, I only used two chicken breasts and half a box of thing spaghetti so I used two tablespoons of lemon juice and three tablespoons of capers. You can adjust this to your taste.

Simmer that sauce down a bit and then poor over the chicken. Top the chicken with lemon slices and cover with foil. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350. How long depends on the thickness of the chicken. I tend to slice my chicken fairly thin for this recipe.

Boil your pasta to your preference of doneness. I normally make this with angel hair or thin spaghetti but you can use any pasta. This is also delicious with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans.

When everything is done, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and arrange on a platter. Mix the sauce with your pasta(or green beans) and serve.

Recipe Calls For:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Olive Oil

Butter

Capers

Lemon

White Wine

Chicken Bouillon or Broth

Flour

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder