Italian Lemon Butter Chicken

By Brie

"About eight years ago, a dear Italian woman introduced me to this dish. She has since passed away and taken her recipes with her, as she had nothing written down. This is the closest of all my attempts to duplicate her dish. It is delicious and easier to make than it looks."

Ingredients

• Lemon Butter Sauce:
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 cup butter, chilled
• salt and pepper to taste
• Chicken and Pasta:
• 1/2 pound dry farfalle (bow tie) pasta
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness/THIN BREASTS OR TENDERS
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 ounces bacon
• 6 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 6-12 ounces artichoke hearts, drained and halved
• 2 teaspoons capers, drained
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish
• Serve with warm French bread and a leafy green salad with a lite vinaigrette dressing.

Preparation

Step 1

To make the sauce, pour the wine and lemon juice into a saucepan over medium heat. Cook at a low boil until the liquid is reduced by 1/3. Stir in cream, and simmer until it thickens. Gradually add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time to the sauce, stirring until completely incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and keep warm.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

To make the chicken:

heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

In a bowl, stir together flour, salt, and pepper.

Lightly coat chicken with flour mixture.

Without crowding, carefully place chicken in hot oil. (If necessary, cook in batches.) Fry until cooked through and golden brown on both sides. Remove the chicken to paper towels.

Stir the bacon, mushrooms, artichokes, and capers into the oil; cook until the mushrooms are soft.

Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size strips, and return them to the skillet.

Stir half of the lemon butter sauce into the chicken mixture.

To serve, place pasta in a large bowl. Stir the chicken mixture into the pasta. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Stir in additional lemon butter sauce as desired.

Toss well, and garnish with parsley.



(1) Heat water for pasta.
(2) Prep your raw and canned ingredients. Substitute 6 oz. canned sliced mushrooms – drained and rinsed. Drain and rinse canned artichoke hearts and cut into pieces (or use hearts of palm, which have a milder, more lemony flavor.) Slice the bacon strips into 1-inch pieces. Keep everything in separate prep bowls and set aside.

(3) Cook sauce exactly as directed to keep it creamy. Once the last pat of butter is mixed in, immediately remove the pan from heat and keep warm (or place on a very low heat and stir occasionally.) Do not keep or reheat on medium or high heat as the cream sauce will separate and become greasy.

(4) Slice the raw chicken breasts with the grain into ½ inch strips. Cook in one layer in a non-stick pan on medium heat with 1 Tbs. olive oil, until the edges are cooked; then flip the strips and cook for about 2 more minutes, until no longer pink and cooked through. Immediately remove from heat, place in a bowl and cover with foil to keep the strips warm and tender – do not leave them on the burner as overcooking will make the chicken tough and rubbery.

(5) While the pasta cooks, cook bacon a bit over medium heat; add mushrooms and cook 3-5 minutes; add the artichokes or hearts of palm last, heating through about 2 minutes, to preserve their soft texture and keep them from becoming mushy.

(6) Return chicken strips to the skillet and continue as directed.


KEEP THE CHICKEN WARMER LONGER THAN THE SAUCE. THE SAUCE WILL BREAK.


cooked the chicken the night before and purchased chicken tenders to make it easier for prep. I sliced the chicken and bagged it. I cooked the bacon after that and bagged it with paper towels to keep it crisp and reserved some bacon grease for the following day. The next day, I cooked the sauce in one pot and cooked the remaining ingredients together and added some bacon grease to the mixture for a little more flavor. I combined the ingredients with the chicken until the chicken was heated through. Before I put the chicken in a chafing dish, I added the sauce to the mixture and tossed.


trick to keep the sauce from separating is to keep it on low heat and whisk for a long time after adding cream (6-8 min).