Perfect Chicken Piccata

In the fifteen years I have spent in the restaurant business as a chef, sauté dishes are by far the most fun to prepare and the most flavorful. Chicken Piccata is one of my all time favorite chicken dishes. It is easy to make and hard to mess up, making it a great place to begin your sauté practice. 

What you’ll need:

4 Chicken breasts (Trimmed and pounded flat this is important for even cooking, you can buy thin sliced chicken breast which is available in most stores to save you the work)

1# Cappellini Pasta (or Angel Hair, thin spaghetti, etc.)

2 Shallots

2T Capers

1/4C Lemon Juice

1/3C White Wine (You may use any white wine, or even cooking white wine)

1 to1 1/2Cups Chicken Stock

3T Olive oil

All Purpose Flour (enough to coat chicken breasts @ 1C)

1t Salt

A Pinch Pepper

2T Butter

Prep: Dice Shallots, flour chicken, Cook pasta al dente (approx. 6 minutes for cappellini), have all ingredients out and ready.

Production: Heat sauté pan on high flame. Add oil, let oil heat up before adding chicken. Add floured chicken and brown both sides. (For thicker pieces remove and finish in oven and return to pan for remaining steps) Add shallots sauté until golden brown, deglaze with lemon juice for @ 30 seconds, add wine, reduce another 30 seconds to 1 minute, add chicken stock, capers, salt, pepper and butter. Simmer.

(Optional: Finish with sliced lemon and sprinkle with parsley for that restaurant look!)

(Optional: If needed or desired add 1t of cornstarch to 1t of water then add to sauce to thicken)

(Optional: If you want the sauce a little creamy you can add 1/4 of Heavy Cream, add this after the wine reduction step and reduce 1 minute, then finish remaining steps.)

Remove chicken from pan, toss pasta with sauce, and serve! This is sure to be a new family favorite.