Chicken Marsala is another fantastic dish for easy entertaining.
Marsala, a fortified wine from Sicily adds incredible depth and flavour and makes the dish special.
A creamy mushroom sauce help flesh out the dish.
You pound the chicken cutlets so they are an even 1/4-1/2″ thick so they cook up quite quickly. Especiallty if you have a large skillet that allows you to cook all 4 in a single layer.
Chicken Marsala is good any time of the year but does tend to have a warm feeling to it.
Don’t let the Marsala scare you off. I buy Sperone Marsala Fine IP Dry DOC LCBO#: 44628 $15.00 Sicily, Italy.
So it isn’t expensive and here are other ideas to use that Marsala in cooking. And… it is delicious in turkey gravy too… recipe coming in time for the holidays!
Veal Shells with Marsala and Vermouth
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts 6-8 oz each
- flour for dredging
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- 1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsps butter divided 2 + 1
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms trimmed and sliced. Can substitute baby portabella mushrooms.
- 1 medium shallot minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2/3 cup chicken broth
- 3/4 cup dry Marsala wine
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 tsps fresh thyme
- 2 Tbsps Italian parsley for garnish chopped
Instructions
- Warm oven to about 250° F.
- Slice the chicken breasts in halve horizontally. (So 1 breast makes 2 portions half the thickness of the original breast.) Place chicken portions between double layers of plastic wrap and pound with a meat hammer to make a uniform cutlets about 1/4" thick.
- Dredge each cutlet in flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil and 2 Tbsps butter in a skillet (preferably cast iron or stainless steel). When hot fry the cutlets in a single layer 3-4 minutes per side. If you have to work in batches remove the seared breast to an oven proof plate while you sear the other cutlets. Place all cutlets on the plate and keep warm in the oven while you finish the sauce.
- Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Add the mushrooms and allow them to brown 3-4 minutes over high heat. Add the shallots, garlic, salt and pepper and stir for 2 minutes. Add the broth and Marsala and scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Add the heavy cream and allow mixture to bubble until reduced to about half. The sauce with get browner and thicken toward the end of the time. Add the chicken cutlets back to the pan, along with any juice that accumulated on the plate, and stir to coat with the sauce. Allow a few minutes for cutlets to heat through.
- Serve with rice or crusty bread to soak up the sauce.
Nutrition
Excellent