|
I have morphed this recipe over the years, depending on my mood. It has all the lemon-y funk that you (should) love as well as the flavors of the Mediterranean with the artichokes and capers. Those can get pretty funky, too.
Shopping List:
|
Hardware:
|
Prep:
Boil some heavily-salted water for pasta. You can cook it ahead of time since it doesn't really matter if it's cold, because you'll be adding it to the skillet at the end anyway. Before you drain it, reserve about 1/2 c. of the starchy cooking water - you'll use this to thicken the sauce at the end.
Mix up a bowl of salt, pepper, and AP flour to dredge the chicken in.
If you're going for a little extra green in your piccata by adding broccoli or asparagus, go ahead and chop it into bite-sized pieces and roast it up until it's tender (Broccoli should take about 15 minutes at 400 deg F, similar for asparagus).
I'm going to assume you know how to roast an artichoke if that's your preferred way to eat artichokes, but at any rate. Chop your artichokes into somewhat bite-sized pieces. I like to make sure the bulb stays somewhat intact so you get the nice 'leaf'-ing of the artichoke for prettiness. This is, after all, simultaneously ugly delicious and not ugly delicious.
Slice the chicken breast into 3 cutlets (pounding out where necessary to get a uniform thickness). Otherwise, you should be recognizing a pattern here. This whole thing is about being bite-sized. Dredge the chicken in your flour dredge and shake off any excess.
Grab a large skillet or fry-pan to assemble everything into. Place it over Medium-ish heat and pour in some olive oil.
The Business:
Pan-fry your chicken in the olive oil, but remember to work in batches as you want some good color and Maillard reaction going on. Evacuate the chicken from the pan and prepare to make a pan-sauce out of the good bits (fond) left from browning the chicken and cooked flour. If the pan is looking a little dry, add a healthy pat of butter and let that start to sizzle. Toss in the garlic and fry for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
De-glaze that pan with your white wine and fresh lemon juice. If you're getting fancy, try to flambe off some of the alcohol and be sure to post it to Instagram for maximum like-age. Let that reduce a little, and then add the reserved pasta water, making sure there's enough to coat the pasta that you've cooked in addition to the chicken in the next step. Mount the sauce with a little extra butter or oil and mix vigorously to emulsify. The starchy water from the pasta helps thicken the sauce without reducing it to its vanishing point.
You're basically done at this point. Toss the capers and artichokes into the pan and coat. The sauce is done. Toss the pasta in the sauce to coat. Plate your green vegetable (you know, to make it healthy) of choice, the pasta, and chicken cutlets. Pour over more sauce if desired.
Serve it up. You've earned it.
Feel free to garnish it with pecorino romano cheese and that chopped parsley.
Boil some heavily-salted water for pasta. You can cook it ahead of time since it doesn't really matter if it's cold, because you'll be adding it to the skillet at the end anyway. Before you drain it, reserve about 1/2 c. of the starchy cooking water - you'll use this to thicken the sauce at the end.
Mix up a bowl of salt, pepper, and AP flour to dredge the chicken in.
If you're going for a little extra green in your piccata by adding broccoli or asparagus, go ahead and chop it into bite-sized pieces and roast it up until it's tender (Broccoli should take about 15 minutes at 400 deg F, similar for asparagus).
I'm going to assume you know how to roast an artichoke if that's your preferred way to eat artichokes, but at any rate. Chop your artichokes into somewhat bite-sized pieces. I like to make sure the bulb stays somewhat intact so you get the nice 'leaf'-ing of the artichoke for prettiness. This is, after all, simultaneously ugly delicious and not ugly delicious.
Slice the chicken breast into 3 cutlets (pounding out where necessary to get a uniform thickness). Otherwise, you should be recognizing a pattern here. This whole thing is about being bite-sized. Dredge the chicken in your flour dredge and shake off any excess.
Grab a large skillet or fry-pan to assemble everything into. Place it over Medium-ish heat and pour in some olive oil.
The Business:
Pan-fry your chicken in the olive oil, but remember to work in batches as you want some good color and Maillard reaction going on. Evacuate the chicken from the pan and prepare to make a pan-sauce out of the good bits (fond) left from browning the chicken and cooked flour. If the pan is looking a little dry, add a healthy pat of butter and let that start to sizzle. Toss in the garlic and fry for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
De-glaze that pan with your white wine and fresh lemon juice. If you're getting fancy, try to flambe off some of the alcohol and be sure to post it to Instagram for maximum like-age. Let that reduce a little, and then add the reserved pasta water, making sure there's enough to coat the pasta that you've cooked in addition to the chicken in the next step. Mount the sauce with a little extra butter or oil and mix vigorously to emulsify. The starchy water from the pasta helps thicken the sauce without reducing it to its vanishing point.
You're basically done at this point. Toss the capers and artichokes into the pan and coat. The sauce is done. Toss the pasta in the sauce to coat. Plate your green vegetable (you know, to make it healthy) of choice, the pasta, and chicken cutlets. Pour over more sauce if desired.
Serve it up. You've earned it.
Feel free to garnish it with pecorino romano cheese and that chopped parsley.