Is Chicken Marsala a dish you only order in a restaurant because you’re too intimidated to  make it at home? Well, it shouldn’t be — the key to this awesome and easy dish is in the mushrooms and wine.

If you’re not familiar with Marsala wine, I can tell you it’s too sweet (at least for my taste buds) to drink, but wonderful to cook with. According to Wikipedia , “Marsala wine is frequently used in cooking and is especially prevalent in dishes served in Italian restaurants in the United States. A typical Marsala sauce, for example, involves reducing the wine almost to a syrup with onions or shallots, then adding mushrooms and herbs.” And that’s exactly how you will create this recipe.

Make sure you use fresh mushrooms for this recipe, absolutely no canned or jarred stuff! I love shiitakes for my Chicken Marsala, but creminis, bellas or even button ‘shrooms will do. A few rough chops and you’re good to go!

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

• 2 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
• ½ cup (or so) all-purpose flour, for dredging
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot, diced small
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and halved
• ¾ cup sweet Marsala wine
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Green onions (both white and green parts) for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

If your chicken breasts are really thick, slightly freeze and slice in half (I love my Pampered Chef’s Close & Cut for this step!)

Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with wax paper. Pound with the flat side of a meat tenderizer (again, I love my Pampered Chef tool for this), until they are about 1/4-inch thick.

Season the flour with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil over medium-high in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides of each piece of chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.

Place chicken into the pan and brown or 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Transfer chicken to a baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large skillet. Add the shallots and garlic and sweat for 2 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until their moisture has evaporated.

Add the Marsala to the skillet and simmer for a minute or so. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly.

Stir in the lemon juice and the butter.

Return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for a minute or so. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the green onions before serving.

Serve with a traditional pasta side dish (sorry, not doing pasta right now), and a green veggie, plus a great glass of wine!

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!

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