Chicken Marsala

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe. This is one of those meals that is easy but makes me feel special. It’s nice enough to serve to company or even just on a Tuesday night. I made this the other night and just had green beans with it. Even though I was on ZReboot I still lost almost a pound. That’s always a bonus! The leftovers for this dish transport well and heat in a microwave in a jiffy.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 chicken breast halves, skinless
  • grated sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
  • 2 Tbl of flour
  • 5 Tbl of olive oil (divided)
  • 12 oz of sliced mushrooms. I used 8 oz of button and 4 oz of assorted fancy mushrooms like oyster, shiitake and cremini. The more exotic the mushroom the more earthy the taste.
  • 5 Tbl of butter (divided)
  • 2 Tbl of minced shallots (one medium)
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced (1 tsp of jar garlic will substitute just fine)
  • ½ cup of Marsala wine (this is cooking wine located in the vinegar/dressing section. This is a sweet, full-flavored wine. The alcohol will cook off)
  • ¾ cup of chicken stock

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Pound your chicken breast pieces to a flatter stage. I do this by putting them in a large baggie and use a meat mallet to pound them to 1/3” thick. This way they cook faster and get more of the browned, yummy surface.

Season the chicken on one side with sea salt and pepper. Put the flour in another large baggie and toss around the chicken to lightly coat. Keep the leftover flour. You’ll  use it for a thickener for the sauce.

Heat 3 Tbl of oil and 2 Tbl of butter in a large sauté pan. Put the chicken in smooth side down and sauté on medium high for three minutes until browned. Take the chicken out and put it in a 9″ x 13″ ovenproof pan smooth side up this time, and toss it in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes to finish roasting. Make sure it has no pink left. That tells you it’s done.

While that’s in the oven, make your sauce. In the same pan, add the rest of the olive oil and butter. Add the mushrooms and shallots. Sauté on medium until they give up liquid and just begin to brown around the edges. Add the balance of the flour and just stir it round to mix in. Add the Marsala and the chicken broth. Cook on a bubble at medium high until it begins to thicken up a bit. This shouldn’t be more than 2 or 3 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven. Plate and serve with the mushrooms. Be sure to drizzle on the extra sauce too!

Enjoy!

Cheers,