Tuscan Chicken in Lemon-Wine Sauce (Scaloppine Al Limone)

Cookin'Diva's Note:

My husband and I learned to make this lemony chicken entree on a cooking vacation in Italy. The recipe is very quick and easy, yet bursting with flavor and tenderness. The sauce is made by whisking a beaten egg into the reduced liquids. We love it served over a side of pasta to soak up all the lemon-wine sauce.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (or water and bullion cube)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 large egg, well beaten
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Directions:

1. Flatten each chicken breast by pounding gently with a flat meat mallet (Hint - pound chicken inside a Ziploc bag - no mess!). Sprinkle flattened breasts with salt and pepper. Then dredge chicken in flour; shake off excess.
2. Heat butter and oil over HIGH heat; just before butter starts to brown, add the chicken pieces and saute quickly to brown, about 3 minutes. Flip and brown other side (3 more minutes). It doesn't need to be totally cooked through because it will cook more in the sauce later.
3. Remove chicken to platter but leave all browned bits in the skillet.
4. Add wine to browned bits in skillet and boil to reduce wine by almost half (about 3 minutes). Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and lemon juice. Stir egg/lemon mixture into simmering wine and broth, whisking constantly until sauce is smooth and a little thickened (about 2 minutes). It will thicken more when you put in the chicken breasts which have a flour coating.
6. Add chicken and any juices back into the sauce; allow to simmer about 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through, turning chicken once. Add chopped parsley.
7. Place chicken on platter and pour sauce over top; garnish with lemon slices and additional parsley sprigs.
8. HINT: Please use FRESH lemons and parsley; it has a big impact on the flavor of the dish, and besides, no aspiring Italian chef would consider using otherwise!

Reviews

[Chef SuzyQ]

Our family of 5 loved this! We doubled it and I was glad we did. The leftovers the next day were still delicious. I served this with Holiday Garlic-Lemon Green Beans With Bread Crumbs and Kittencal's Parmesan Orzo and the meal was definitely FIVE STAR!

[morgangeline]

Good stuff! I actually made this with seitan instead of chicken, and it was great, really different from the usual vegetarian fare. I didn't brown the seitan, but simmered it in some broth, lemon juice, white wine, and soy sauce while working on the rest of it. The way I made it, it was more of a 4-star recipe - without the flavor from the browned chicken, I'll need to season the sauce some more next time, maybe with thyme, oregano, and/or a little garlic. I also made a version of Chef-Boy-I-Be Illinois' Cavatappi With Swiss Chard Chef-Boy-I-Be Illinois' Cavatappi With Swiss Chard, which complemented it perfectly. Now my boyfriend thinks I am some sort of culinary wunderkind. So, thanks!!

[GraceSC]

The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is b/c my husband wasn't loving it as much as I was. In my opinion, this is a fantastic chicken dish, and all of the flavors blend together very well. My husband said that he wasn't a fan of pairing lemon w/ chicken.....oh well!