Swift saute

Chicken Marsala a quick fix for summer dinner

Part of the dish’s quick cooking time relies on using thinly pounded pieces, or scaloppini, of boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Part of the dish’s quick cooking time relies on using thinly pounded pieces, or scaloppini, of boneless, skinless chicken breast.

Apart from the holiday season, of course, summer seems to be the busiest time of the year. But unlike food-centered fall and winter celebrations, from June through August, people want to get out of the kitchen as much as possible.

Many memorable summer meals are cooked outdoors. Those prepared in the kitchen tend to be quicker. Not only are we dashing around to various warm-weather activities, but we also simply don’t want to spend more time than we need to in the warmest room of the house.

That’s why I like to saute during summer. Put a pan on the stove, heat up a little oil or butter, add small or thin pieces of food that cook quickly, finish it all off with an easy pan sauce, and you’ve got a delicious one-burner meal ready to serve in less than 30 minutes.

One of my favorite sautes at any time of year is a recipe commonly known as Chicken Marsala, named for the fruity-tasting fortified wine from the Sicilian city of the same name. You’ll find it in many Italian restaurants, but the dish is surprisingly easy to make in your own kitchen.

Part of the dish’s quick cooking time relies on using thinly pounded pieces, or scaloppini, of boneless, skinless chicken breast. (You can also substitute turkey breast, pork or veal scaloppini.) It’s quick and easy to flatten the scaloppini yourself, but many supermarkets also sell them already prepped and ready to cook.

The only other element of the dish many people find challenging is the Marsala wine itself. After all, you may decide at the last minute to cook this dish but may not want to make a special trip to a wine shop to buy the Marsala. I’ve come up with a solution for you, though. As you’ll see in the recipe, I create a flavor similar to Marsala by steeping raisins in white wine; and you can even add the raisins to the dish, too, for an extra tangy-sweet surprise.

The only other thing you need to complete the meal is a quick side dish or two to serve with the scaloppini. I like rice or mashed potatoes to help soak up the delicious sauce. And baby spinach leaves rapidly sauteed with garlic in a little olive oil makes a perfect vegetable accompaniment.

The results are casual enough to serve for a weeknight family meal, yet so beautiful and flavorful that dinner-party guests will rave, too. And you don’t have to tell anyone how little time you spent in the kitchen.

CHICKEN SCALOPPINI MARSALA WITH MUSHROOMS

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup seedless raisins

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, each 5 to 6 ounces, cut crosswise and diagonally into 2 equal pieces

Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped shallots

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

3/4 pound cultivated mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps thinly sliced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more as needed

3 large fresh sage leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried sage

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce or good-quality bottled barbecue sauce

3/4 cup heavy cream

Chopped fresh Italian parsley, for garnish

Good-quality canned chicken broth, or water, if needed

Directions:

In a small saute pan or saucepan, combine the white wine and raisins. Bring to a boil over high heat; then turn off the heat, and set aside to steep.

Meanwhile, coat the chicken breasts with a little oil. Place 2 halves, spaced apart, in a large heavy-duty plastic bag. With a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy small saucepan, gently flatten the pieces to scaloppini, 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining halves.

Arrange the scaloppini on parchment paper. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Dust very lightly, but evenly, on both sides with flour.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy skillet over high heat. Add the scaloppini, working in batches to avoid overcrowding. Cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once and adding a little butter. Transfer to a platter. Repeat with more oil as needed and the chicken.

Spoon excess fat from the skillet, leaving a thin glaze. Add the shallots and garlic. Saute until the shallots begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 2 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper, and the sage. Saute until the mushrooms are browned and tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the reserved white wine and, if you like, the raisins. Otherwise, strain the wine through a sieve, and discard the raisins. Cook, stirring and scraping to deglaze the pan deposits, until the liquid reduces by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the sage. Stir in the hoisin or barbecue sauce, and simmer to thicken slightly. Stir in the cream, and bring to a simmer.

Return the scaloppini to the pan. Simmer about 1 minute to rewarm them while stirring with a spoon to coat them with the sauce. Sprinkle with some parsley. If the sauce looks too thick, thin with a little broth or water.

Divide the chicken scaloppini among serving plates. Spoon the sauce over and around the chicken. Sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

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