Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata is a classic Italian pasta dish served with chicken in a lemon, butter and caper sauce. The chicken is pounded thin, lightly breaded and browned in a pan. Pounding the chicken thin is an important step because it helps cook the chicken more evenly. The drippings from the chicken are used to make the savory pan sauce which, in my opinion, is the highlight of the dish. The sauce is a simple combination of white wine, butter, lemon, and capers. Making everything only takes about half hour so this is a great meal when you’re short on time for dinner!

Chicken Piccata
Adapted from Closet Cooking
(Makes 2 servings)
Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin with a mallet
• 1/2 cup flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or water
• 4-5 lemon slices (optional).
• 1 lemon, juice
• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• 3 tbsp capers
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 servings linguine pasta
• handful parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and butter in a pan over medium heat.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat with flour in a small bowl.
3. Fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, start boiling the linguine as directed on the package.
5. Add the garlic to the pan and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
6. Add the wine to the pan and deglaze it.
7. Add the broth, lemon juice, honey and capers in the pan and simmer until the liquids have reduce by half, about 2-3 minutes.  Add slices of lemon into the sauce (optional).
8. Stir in the butter, season with salt and pepper, mix in the parsley, return chicken to pan and toss to coat. Remove from the pan and set aside.
9. Pour the drained pasta into the pan and coat with the sauce. Serve the chicken with half of the pasta.