Chicken Piccata.....

I love chicken piccata. It is so lemony, buttery and delicious. Until I found Stefano's, a local pizza/Italian delivery restaurant, I had never found a restaurant that made it how I like it. I fell in love with their version. Why? You might ask. Because they added mushrooms, red onions and didn't skimp on the sauce. I hate getting a plate of dry noodles with no sauce and no way to eat them because they are all globbed together, topped with a dry chicken breast sprinkled with a couple of capers. Trust me I was served this dish that way at a certain cheesecake joint and paid way too much for it. So this was my attempt to recreate Stefano's chicken piccata with very few improvements. The main improvement I made over their version was a pasta change up. I love whole wheat pasta, it has so much more flavor and I also prefer the texture. They use regular spaghetti noodles and I use whole wheat angel hair. Other than that I am just guessing at the recipe. My recipe came out great, although it didn't pass the munchkin test. He just had his Aunt Kirstin's left over mac n' cheese (because he said she makes the best) and one of the chicken pieces with freshly grated Parmesan. He called it "parmesan chicken". I think capers scare him. Don't be scared by capers, they are so good. I always rinse them, though, otherwise they will add a little too much brine flavor to the overall taste of the dish.

Start by gathering all the goods. Once you get started it will go pretty quick so have everything ready to go. Slice the veggies, rinse the capers, zest then cut the lemons in half. Precook your pasta leaving it a little al dente and set aside. Also preheat your oven to 350 degrees so it's ready to finish off the chicken.

Then you want to pound out all three pieces of chicken until the are evenly thin, and cut those pieces in half. You will end up with six thin pieces of chicken breast. Make your coating by combining the flour and lemon zest. Season the chicken with salt and fresh ground pepper, then coat in the flour mixture. This will be a fairly light coating. Next you will saute them until they are lightly browned on both sides. (I did it in two batches but I had a fairly good sized pan). Put the chicken on a rack on a sheet pan and put into the oven for 5-10 minutes. (Mine was done the same time as the sauce).

Ready for the oven

Add the mushrooms and onions to the pan where the chicken was cooking and throw in about 2 Tbsp of the butter. Saute until lightly browned. Then add then wine and let reduce.

This is all the delicious fond (browned bits) from
cooking the chicken. This is a good thing.

After the wine reduces by about half, add the rest of the butter and the capers, then cook until the butter is completely melted. Then add the pasta. (I used about 2/3 of what I cooked). But you be the judge if you like it extra saucey add less pasta. If you like it drier add more. Saute for a couple of minutes, stirring, until every thing is incorporated and the noodles are hot (I use tongs for this part to make sure all the goodies are distributed evenly).

This is the time to remove your chicken, it is done when it reaches and internal temperature of 165 degrees. Serve up the pasta and top with a piece of chicken. One should be enough but if you are really hungry put two. Garnish with a little parmesan cheese. If you are really trying to impress somebody add some chopped parsley and a twist of lemon.

Yum! It tasted better than the picture can show!!

P.S. It took way longer to write this up than it did to make this whole dinner, so don't be intimidated and give it a try. Or just order Stefano's, they deliver :-)

Chicken Piccata 

3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 c AP Flour
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
3 Tbsp Olive oil
2 c mushrooms, sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 lemons, zest removed and juiced
1/4 c capers, rinsed
1 stick butter
1-2 c white wine
Parmesan for garnish (optional)
1 pkg angel hair pasta (I prefer whole wheat)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a sheet pan with a rack and set aside for the chicken. Pre-cook and drain your pasta, leaving it slightly al dente. Set aside. Pound out the chicken until nice and thin. Cut these pieces in half, leaving you with 6 thinly pounded chicken breasts. On a large plate or dish mix together the flour and lemon zest. Season the chicken with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper then coat in the flour mixture. This will be a fairly light coating.

Heat a large, preferably stainless steel, sauce pan and 3 Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown on both sides, about 3-5 minutes a side. Do this in two or more batches, you may need to add more oil in between batches. Remove chicken to prepared pan and put in oven to finish (It should take the same amount of time to finish as it takes to make the sauce, about 10 minutes). To the saute pan (browned bits and all) add the sliced mushrooms and onions and about 2 Tbsp butter. Saute until browned, about 5 minutes. Then add the wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Add the rinsed capers and the remaining butter. Cook until all the butter melts, then add the pasta (I only added about 2/3 of the cooked pasta). Toss the pasta in the sauce, coating evenly (Using tongs works best). Remove chicken from oven when it reaches 165 degrees. Put pasta mixture onto plates, then top with chicken and shredded parmesan. Enjoy!!