Quick Chicken Marsala

Here's a light and quick version of the classic Chicken Marsala. This rich tasting dish can be made with chicken, veal or tofu.

My version boosts the standard quantity of mushrooms so that the chicken and mushrooms are nearly in a 1:1 ratio. Mushrooms are so healthy for you and lend great flavor to the sauce. Some versions use cream to finish the dish, but it really doesn’t require it. Why not save your fat and calories for dessert?

Ingredients you should have on hand:

• Pasta (1 lb for four)
• 1/3- ½ C Flour (Wondra is best, all purpose will do)
• 1 Shallot minced
• 2 TBSP Parsley, chopped fine
• Olive oil, butter (about 2 TBSP each)

Ingredients you might need to pick up:

• 1 lb Chicken breasts pounded thin in cutlets or scaloppini
• 1 C Dry Marsala Wine
• Mushrooms - button, cremini, porcini
• Optional: additional broth or white wine

Steps:

1. Put water on for pasta.
2. If you have whole breasts, pound them thin between two sheets of waxed paper.
3. Dredge chicken in flour, flavored to taste with salt & pepper.
4. Slice mushrooms, shallots, parsley.
5. Sauté mushrooms in butter/olive oil, remove to a bowl or plate.
6. Brown chicken cutlets and set aside on plate.
7. Return mushrooms to pan, add shallots, oil as needed. Careful not to burn shallots.
8. Sprinkle remaining dredging flour over mushrooms. Depending on how much liquid your mushrooms release you may need more or less flour.
9. Add Marsala. You may also add additional liquid (chicken or vegetable broth, white wine or water) particularly if you’d like more sauce for the pasta.

Tips:

1. Buy pre-sliced mushrooms to save time.
2. Scaloppini is the term commonly used for veal or chicken thin, dredged then prepared in a light sauce such as piccata or Marsala.
3. Easy-pour spouts like bartenders use make olive oil handy to use.
4. To “dredge” means to coat lightly with flour.
5. Wondra Sauce and Gravy flour is a cook’s best friend. Your gravies will never be lumpy; your sauces will never be pasty.
6. Marsala is a Sicilian blended fortified wine with a deep nutty flavor. Generally aged for 2 years or more in casks. Sweet Marsala is drunk as a dessert wine and used in Italian desserts such as Zabaglione. Opened Marsala will keep for quite a while in a cool, dark cabinet.
7. Low-sodium, fat-free, Organic broths are readily available in convenient cartons. Keep them in your pantry. Freeze unused portions in ice cube trays and you’ll have nearly perfect TBSP measures of broth in the freezer for future uses.

Variations:

• Veal or tofu may be substituted for chicken. For tofu, use firm or extra firm and press cutlets in towel to remove excess water.
• Replace Marsala with white wine and add lemon juice. Replace mushrooms with parsley and capers. Now you’ve got Piccata. The technique is identical. Brown the protein; create a sauce by deglazing pan with wine, thickening with flour as desired.

Serve with a green veg or salad and you've got dinner in 40 minutes.

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