Main, Italian-American
Chicken Piccata
Thin golden cutlets in a bright lemon, caper and butter sauce.
- Total
- 30 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
- Skill
- Medium
- Serves
- 2
- Cost for two
- about $11
Piccata is weeknight-friendly but tastes like a night out: chicken breasts pounded thin so they cook in minutes, dusted in flour for a golden crust, and finished in a pan sauce of white wine, lemon, capers and butter. It is a perfect first 'impress' dish because it is fast, inexpensive and deeply flavored.
Ingredients
Method
Place the cutlets between sheets of plastic wrap and pound to an even 1 cm (⅜ in). Season with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and shake off the excess.
Heat the oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the cutlets 2–3 minutes per side until golden and cooked through to 74°C (165°F). Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the shallot and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the wine, scrape up the browned bits and reduce by half.
Add the stock, lemon juice and capers and simmer 3–4 minutes until slightly thickened.
Off the heat, swirl in the 2 tbsp cold butter until glossy and stir in the parsley. Return the chicken and its juices and spoon the sauce over.
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Tips
- Even thickness is everything; it is what lets the chicken cook fast without drying out.
- Cold butter added off the heat keeps the sauce silky instead of greasy.
Make ahead
Pound and season the cutlets in the morning; keep them covered in the fridge.
Plating
Overlap two cutlets on angel-hair pasta or crushed potatoes, spoon the sauce over and add a lemon slice.
What to drink
Wine: Pinot Grigio, Vermentino or another zesty Italian white.
Zero-proof: Lemon-thyme spritz.
Questions
Can I skip the wine?
Use extra stock plus 1 tsp white wine vinegar for acidity.