BY SHALEEN DESTEFANO
There’s something undeniably personal about preparing a meal for your favorite people. In our home, food speaks to the soul, saying the things we sometimes can’t put into words. And chicken piccata is the dish I make when I want to show my love. It’s everyone’s favorite – like a warm hug, I’m telling you this dish saves. With its bright lemony sauce, and comforting buttery richness, chicken piccata is magical. Everything moves too fast, so taking the time to cook something from scratch, means something. This is a fabric of our love language, hope your people like it, too. We adapted this recipe from the Modern Proper.
Ingredients
2 pounds chicken cutlets or breasts, boneless, skinless, butterflied to create thinner pieces
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup flour
10 tablespoons butter (recipe calls for unsalted butter, but I never use unsalted butter, sue me)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
8 cloves of garlic roughly chopped (recipe called for 4-6 cloves “minced”– but that’s shameful)
1 ½ cups chicken stock (or bone broth if you’re seeking more protein)
1 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 lemon), plus more to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons capers, drained
Fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped
Fresh grated parmesan optional (most people don’t top their piccata with parmesan, but we do)
Angel hair pasta
Instructions
Season the chicken all over with the pepper and 1½ teaspoons of the salt. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Dip each piece of the chicken in the flour, turning to coat and shake off any excess. Discard the flour when finished dredging.
Heat 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet set over medium-high until the butter has melted. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining chicken, adding more butter and oil to the skillet as needed. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter.
Add the shallot to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute more. Stir in the stock and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, 4-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, then stir in 4 tablespoons of the butter, capers, lemon zest, lemon juice and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with parsley before serving over a plate of angel hair pasta. Mangia, mangia!