Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata is an Italian-American classic dish, with bright flavors of lemon, mixed with briney capers, and sweet shallots. The resulting sauce is silky and tangy, and works well over pasta, rice or orzo. When making the sauce, fresh lemon juice is a must (no packaged juice) as is adding the whole lemon slices to the pan. Also, I find slicing the shallots lengthwise, instead of chopping, provides a more visually appealing look and a bolder bite. If you’d like to make this vegetarian, you could certainly sub the chicken with seitan or your preferred meat alternative.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

8 thin sliced boneless chicken breasts

All purpose flour

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

olive oil

2 shallots, sliced lengthwise

1 cup chicken stock

3-4 tsp capers, drained

1 large lemon, half sliced into thin slices, the other half juiced. You want about 2 tbsp of lemon juice.

Dredge the chicken in flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 3 tbsp of butter and a bit of olive oil over medium high heat.

Depending on the size of your pan, add 3-4 chicken breasts at a time, browning on both sides. Do this in batches until all chicken pieces are browned. Set aside on a plate.

In the same skillet, add shallots and sliced lemon and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes.

Next add the chicken stock and simmer until reduced by half.

Now add the capers and lemon juice, and return the chicken to the pan.

Simmer on medium heat until sauce thickens a bit and chicken is cooked through. Just a few minutes.

Add remaining 3 tbsp butter to the pan and stir gently to incorporate.

Remove from the heat and serve immediately over a starch of your choice. Enjoy!