Restaurant-Style Chicken Piccata

My very very favorite meal in the world is Chicken Piccata. I first had it in an Italian restaurant in Las Vegas.  When I came home I found it on Macaroni Griil and Zio's menus but they've since taken it off.  What's a girl to do?  Learn to make it herself, of course!

The dish, in its most simple form, is easy to make and complex in flavor:  sweet, savory,salty, and tart all at the same time.  The definition of the culinary term "piccata" is actually a buttery lemon sauce with parsley.  Capers have become a de rigeur part of the equation, giving more tartness and a bit of brine to the overall dish.  Other flavors restaurants often add, as I do at times also, are pancetta, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, fresh spinach, and/or pine nuts.

I chose this as my first adventure back in the kitchen following my gallbladder surgery and it was almost a religious moment to taste those flavors again that I love so much.

Chicken Piccata

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse

Ingredients:

• 4  5oz Chicken Breasts, skinned, boned, and pounded thin
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 Tbsp Butter, divided in half
• 1/2 cups white wine or chicken stock
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp capers
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 8 oz dried Angel Hair pasta, cooked al dente and drained
• 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced (Optional)
• 2 Tbsp Bacon Pieces (Hormel) or cooked pancetta (Optional)
• 4 Handfulls fresh spinach (Optional)
• 2 Tbsp pine nuts (Optional)

Directions:

1.  Place breadcrumbs in shallow plate and egg, beaten, into a shallow bowl to prepare for dredging.                     
    

2. Rinse and pat dry chicken breasts.  Place between two pieces of wax or
plastic wrap and pound to 1/4" thickness with blunt side of meat mallet or
rolling pin.  Pat dry with paper towels again.  Lightly Salt and pepper.

3.  Coat chicken in egg and then dredge in bread crumbs. Set aside and let rest for 10 minutes.  (This helps the coating stay on the chicken during cooking.)

4. Prepare rest of ingredients and have ready at hand.

5.  Heat olive oil and half of  butter in heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. 
Brown each chicken breast on each side, approximately 3 minutes per side.  Remove from
pan and place in warm oven on a paper towel lined ovenproof plate.

6.  Into same skillet, without changing heat settings, pour wine orchicken stock, capers, lemon juice and zest rest of the butter, and any other veggies (except spinach) to be added.  Whisking to pick up the bits of flavor from the skillet, let come to a bubble and cook for 3-4 minutes to thicken slightly. (This is more of a reduction sauce than a thicker gravy-type sauce.)  Place chicken back in pan and turn to coat in sauce.

7.  Serve over pasta and/or a handful of fresh spinach leaves. Garnish with fresh minced parsley.

Serves 4.

 

Comments

[Mimi]

What a perfect meal! Glenna, I remember the bland diet I was on between my acute gall bladder attack (which I had while I was at a conference at Notre Dame University) and my surgery. Potatoes, milk, bread, mild vegetables, some cheese, yogurt and oatmeal. I was on liquids for four days after surgery and my first meal was Cheerios. Oh, my they tasted so good!

[Melody Elliott Koontz]

Looks very very delish. Craving pasta.

[Glenna]

Thanks y'all! I ate a lot of oatmeal too but pasta with a little zip but not too much was like water in the desert!

[Rachel V]

WOW!!! Made this tonight for dinner and got rave reviews! First time on your site but definitely not the last. You've got some great recipes here. My family thanks you immensely for the recipe!!

[wjbinokc]

I have been searching for a really good Chicken Picatta recipe and came across this one. Sounds great (but w/ too much lemon it seems). I believe I can help with the lemon thing. Looking at many, many similar recipes, it appears that the total amount of lemon for this recipe should be a little over 2 ounces (about 1/4 cup) NOT 2 cups.

Another way to determine the amount of lemon to add is for each chicken cutlet add the juice of one lemon(that's what Rachael Ray does along with many others). In this case, 2 cutlets would require the juice of two lemons or about 1/4 cup.

Taste this before serving! Some adjustment may still be warranted.

[Glenna]

I think there's a little confusion. The recipe calls for the juice and zest of ONE lemon which is about 2-3 Tbsp, depending on the size of the lemon. The rest of the sauce is made with white whine or chicken stock and a little butter.

Thanks for reading and commenting, Glenna

[gita]

This chicken recipe is perfect. Chicken Piccata is also my very favorite italian chicken dish, Glenna. It would be nice if people read more carefully and not be so ready to criticize the author. The only thing I did was to load up the sauce with drained,sliced artichoke hearts. Great over steamed broccoli.It's a keeper.