Chicken Piccata with Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil

Chicken Piccata with Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil

Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil is perfect to saute in for a classic Chicken Piccata!  A gremolata, for those who may not be familiar, is a condiment frequently used in Italian and French cuisine.  Key ingredients would be lemon zest, garlic and flat leaf parsley.  The origins?  Who knows, but the combination infused in extra virgin olive oil is perfect for so many dishes.  We’re introducing it in a wonderfully easy chicken piccata minus all the embellishments that sometime stray from the lemony zestfulness that I love.  Yes you could add a splash of white wine or  ….. etc etc.; but why not just enjoy a glass of wine while you dine:  Sauvignon Blanc, Pino Gregio, or a Chardonnay – less the oak would be nice. 

Get help to pound the chicken!

There’s nothing like being ‘allowed’ to pound something in the kitchen if you are a kid.  Make it a little bonding, teaching, laughing moment.  Make sure to give a little overview that you want to pound it all over and not in just one spot.  And – improvise with a rolling pin (see instructions) if you do not have a meat maillot in your house.   My point is, is that cooking at home can be easy and fun and something that brings the family together to share in the stories of the day or to just be together.  Cooking does not need to be complicated and the earlier someone understands this the more fun you have with food.

Accompaniments?

Serve the chicken piccata with a nest of pasta just drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Did you know – al’dente pasta has a lower gylcemic index than overcooked pasta?  And it digests even more slowly when coated with a good quality olive oil.  To achieve al’dente you should stop the cooking process when it seems a bit under-cooked.  This sounds a bit odd and may challenge you the first few times, but the pasta continues to cook after you drain it – which is a good time to drizzle on the oil!  When I really started doing this I was rewarded with what I experienced in Italy – perfect al’dente pasta!  Now all you need is a very simple side salad of radicchio and romaine  – okay, maybe a few shavings of Parmesan.  Top it with our Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic vinegar combined with the Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil as a vinaigrette.

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Chicken Piccata

A simple meal for any day of the week yet elegant enough to serve when entertaining.  We've gone back to the basics for this delicious version.  Often featured in our cooking demonstrations and always a hit.  We hope you enjoy!

Course Entre, Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword Chicken, Entertaining, Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

• 2 whole lemons
• 6 6-8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts - tenders removed I like air chilled myself - they actually retain juice better and are more tender.
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour seasoned with salt and fresh ground pepper
• 6 tablespoons Cultivated Tree Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil or any of our Extra Virgin varietals
• 1 small shallot - finely minced
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons capers - rinsed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter - divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• to taste kosher or sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Instructions

Chicken

1. Gather a large oven proof platter and piece of foil for tenting chicken. Pre-heat oven to 180°, with rack in the middle position.
2. Season flour with salt and pepper for dredging chicken on a plate or shallow pan and set aside.

3. Cut 1 lemon in half - trimming ends off - then slice 1/2 into thin half moons. Juice the remaining 1 1/2 lemons - this will be used for the sauce at the end of cooking the cutlets.

4. Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally - resulting in thinner breasts. Place them in an unsealed zip-lock bag and pound them to an even 1/4 inch thickness using a meat pounder. A good substitute is a rolling pin used like a mallet.

5. Pat the cutlets dry with paper towels and then dredge each one in the flour mixture - shacking off the excess. Transfer to a single layer to a large platter.

6. Preheat a large skillet to a medium high heat then add 3 tablespoons of the Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil.
7. Without crowding, add 3-4 of the dredged chicken cutlets and let cook until nicely golden - about 3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side the same which should only require about 2 minutes. Remember they are only 1/4 inch thick. Remove and place on the oven proof platter and tent with foil and place in the warm oven. Repeat this process with the other cutlets - adding remaining olive oil prior to starting. Add chicken to oven dish when complete.

SAUCE

1. When the cutlets are finished - saute the minced shallot in the same skillet until it is fragrant - about 45 seconds.

2. Stir in the chicken broth and half moon lemon slices and simmer - scraping any bits from the pan (fond) and reducing the liquid to about 1/3 cup. Stir in the rinsed capers and lemon juice and reduce again. Remove from heat and add butter a few pieces at a time. Add the parsley, stir and pour the sauce over the warming platter of cutlets - or plate each serving with cutlet and sauce and serve with a side of pasta drizzled with olive oil. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

NOTE:  Use a large gallon size sip lock bag to pound the breasts to 1/4 inch thickness - you can add a few horizontally sliced breasts and scoot them around as they are finished. Or just cover with butchers paper or plastic wrap and pound away!