Friday, February 24, 2006

Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss

Makes 4 servings
1 pound penne pasta, cooked to package directions
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1.25 lbs chicken tenders (or cutlets, or breasts pounded thin), cutinto 1 inch pieces
Salt andPepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium shallots, chopped (you can use dried*, minced onion,reconstituted, use about 4 teaspoons, dry, soak in water toreconstitute)
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine (if you don't have/want to use wine, increasechicken broth by 1/2 cup and use that 1/2 cup in place of wine in theinstructions)
Juice of 1 lemon, or about 2-3 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice
1 cup chicken broth or stock
3 tablespoons capers, drained (I didn't use these)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (or 1-2 tablespoons dried)

Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high head. Add 1 tablespoonof olive oil and the chicken to the pan. Season with salt and pepper,and brown until lightly golden all over, about 5-6 minutes. Removechicken from pan and set aside. Return the skillet to the heat,reduce heat to medium. To the skillet, add another tablespoon ofolice oil, 1 tablespoon butter, garlic, and shallots, and sautee 3minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in wine and reduceliquid, 1 minute or until it starts to thicken. (I added about 2 moretablespoons flour at this point so that it was VERY thick, almost like paste consistiency.) Whisk lemon juice and broth into sauce. Stir incapers and parsley. When sauce comes to a bubble, add the remainingtablespoon butter. Put chicken back in the pan and het through for aminute or 2. Toss hot pasta with chicken and sauce. Adjust salt andpepper to taste.

Low fat
Takes 30-45 minutes to make.
Easy

* I always have these shallots on-hand. They have great flavor, and reconstitute really well. I buy just about all my spices from Penzey's.

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