Chicken Marsala Recipe - Garlic Mikes Italian Cuisine Restaurant

Suitable for

4 Servings

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Difficulty

Moderate

This is a traditional dish found in Italy and widely in the U.S. Sometimes you’ll see it prepared with mushrooms and sometimes not. I chose to serve this with Capellini (Angel Hair). You’ll very rarely find a protein like chicken served with pasta. Pasta is generally served as a first course, known as Primi.

Category: Chicken

Ingredients

4 portions chicken breast

(in this case I’m using 8 chicken tenders, because the store was wiped out of chicken breasts. I like it better!)

Oil for sautéing

1/2 cup all purpose flour

for dredging and for thickening the sauce at the end

Salt for seasoning

I ALWAYS use Kosher salt.

1 stick of butter

4 cups of sliced mushrooms

1/2 to 3/4 cup Marsala Wine

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

(homemade is best or a good quality chicken broth or stock. Use bouillon ONLY as a last resort. Do not use full strength. It’s very salty.)

Steps

Gently pound the chicken to slightly thin them out. Do not over pound or the chicken will tear. Use the flat side of your meat mallet. If you don’t have a meat mallet you can always use the side of a can, the back of a pan. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the chicken before pounding.

ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS, UTENSILS, AND WORK SURFACES AFTER HANDLING CHICKEN OR ANY PROTEIN.

Heat a pan with just enough oil to coat the pan. A square electric frying pan actually works very well for the home cook.
While the pan is slowly heating, season the chicken on both sides with salt. Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour and shake off the remaining flour.
Keep it light. The purpose of this is to aid in the browning process, keeping the chicken from sticking and later aiding in thickening the sauce.
I like to do this in 2 batches so the chicken does not absorb the flour and become gummy.

Once the oil is just below the smoking point, place the floured chicken in the pan, searing the chicken.

If you can’t fit all of the chicken in one pan, sear chicken in batches. Be careful not to overcrowd. This will boil the chicken in its own juices.
You want the chicken to have a golden brown look to it.

LET THE PAN DO THE WORK! Don’t move the chicken around. When the edges start to turn white, the chicken is ready to turn over. You’ll find the first side down will cook longer. This will be the side you will present when it comes time to plate. Remember, you eat with your eyes, first.

Remove the seared chicken from the pan and place on a plate. Pour off off the oil from the pan.
Place a knob of butter (about 1 tablespoon) in the pan over medium heat. Lightly melt the butter.
Toss in the mushrooms and spread out evenly. Give the mushrooms a stir and sear for another minute or so.

Remember, let the heat of the pan do the work.

Add the Marsala wine and chicken broth.

Then, add your wine and broth deglazing and scraping up the tasty brown bits from the pan known as fond.
I don’t measure. Pour the Marsala to 1/3 the side of the chicken.
Add the chicken broth to 1/2 to 2/3 up the side of the chicken and simmer reducing the sauce to about 1/3 of the contents.

You can place the chicken back in the pan after you sauté the mushrooms, placing the chicken in contact with the pan, pushing the mushrooms to the side. Add the chicken and the lovely drippings from the plate of the resting chicken.

Once the sauce is reduced, take the remaining butter (best if cold) and in roughly 2 tablespoon knobs, dredge the butter in the flour, kneading quickly to combine. Do this rather rapidly so the butter does not melt.
Drop the knobs of butter into the high simmering sauce and stir in. You will see the sauce begin to thicken.
This is called a beurre manie. (burr-mon-yay)
Allow to simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is at a desired thickness. Allow the sauce to simmer for a few moments to “cook out” the taste of raw flour.
The sauce should cost the back of a spoon. If too thin, add more beurre manie or cold butter.

If sauce is too thick, add some more broth or wine. If you add wine, simmer longer to cook off the alcohol.

The Chicken Marsala is complete.
Place the chicken on a warm serving platter and cover with the sauce.
Serve with desired vegetable and pasta or potato’s and your favorite wine.
Buon Apetito!!