Description
A light and vibrant take on Chicken Scaloppine
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 ounces linguine pasta
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp ground fennel
- 1/4 tsp salt
- vegetable oil (enough to fill a heavy bottomed pan/pot with 1/2 in of oil)
- 4 Tbs butter (divided into 1 Tbs and 3 Tbs)
- 4 cloves of garlic rough chopped
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 12 green Italian marinated olives, rough chopped
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
Instructions
- Prepare the linguine pasta according to package directions, boiling while you work on the chicken. Once you drain the pasta, drizzle with olive oil to keep it from sticking together. Do not rinse with water as that will result in making your final dish watery.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat until the oil reaches 325F then reduce heat to medium to maintain the 325F temp. You want it ready to fry, but not smoking.
- Place the chicken breasts on a clean work surface, cover with plastic wrap and then pound thin with a mallet (or whatever you’ve got that can flatten the chicken to 1/4 in thickness).
- Combine the flour, garlic powder, fennel and salt in a container and then dredge the chicken breasts one at a time in the flour.
- Shake off the excess flour and then, one at a time, unless you have a giant pot, fry the flour dredged breasts in the oil. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes per side, flipping when you see the breast is golden brown and crispy on the outside and cooked through on the inside.
- Remove cooked breasts and place on a baking pan covered with a paper towel inside a 200F oven to keep warm.
- Once all breasts have been fried and are warming, drain off the excess oil and any extra dark bits of flour that have accumulated in the pot, though don’t wipe the pot clean. A little bit of the brown bits and oil will prepare the pan nicely for the next step. Properly dispose of the excess oil.
- Place the uncleaned pot over medium to medium high heat and add in 1 Tbs butter (should sizzle and melt but not burn) then add in peppers, garlic and tomatoes and saute for 2 to 3 minutes until vegetables soften. Then add in the olives, lemon juice and remaining 3 Tbs butter and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Then add in the chicken stock and season with salt to taste. Allow to simmer at least 3 to 5 minutes to slightly thicken.
- Serve pasta topped with a 1/2 ladle of the lemon/vegetable sauce, then a breast of chicken, and top with another 1/2 ladle of lemon/vegetable sauce. The pasta should soak up the liquid sauce, but be light enough that the pasta isn’t drowning in sauce.
- Optional garnishes: chopped Italian parsley, lemon zest, parmesan cheese
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Italian