Chicken Piccata Pasta
This chicken piccata pasta is such a wonderful meal! Both the chicken and the spaghetti are tossed in a generous amount of the lemon caper sauce.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 790kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ pound thin spaghetti or your favorite pasta
- 4 thin chicken cutlets about ¼ inch thin, one thick breast yields 2 cutlets
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- Olive oil for the pan
- 1 tablespoon finely minced shallot
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- ½ cup white wine I use Sauvignon Blanc
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or to taste
- ½ a lemon thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons capers drained
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- Freshly chopped Italian parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente in generously salted water. Reserve about 1 cup pasta water for later. Drain and set aside.
- Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper generously (about ¼ tsp salt per cutlet). Dredge each cutlet with flour, shaking off any excess.
- Heat a few drizzles of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken on both sides until golden brown and fully cooked through in the center. Remove and set aside.
- To the same pan, add 2 tablespoons of butter. Sauté the shallots and garlic for about 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Then, add the capers and wine and scrape the brown bits (use a wooden spoon to avoid scratching).
- Next, stir in the chicken broth, lemon juice (to taste), and the lemon slices. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Return the chicken to the pan. Bring to a low simmer, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened. Then remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a plate. Leave the sauce in the pan.
- Turn off the heat. Then, immediately add 3 tablespoons of butter into the sauce and stir until thickened and glossy. Spoon half of the lemon sauce and garnishes over the chicken. Leave the other half of the sauce in the pan.
- Then, toss the cooked pasta with the sauce in the skillet, plus some of the reserved pasta water as needed to achieve the right consistency.
- Top the pasta with the chicken and sauce. Garnish with Italian parsley and more lemon slices. Enjoy!
Notes
- Split each chicken breast in half and pound to ¼ inch thickness. Use a meat mallet with plastic wrap on top to avoid splashing.
- Do not overcook the pasta. Keep it al dente since it will finish cooking with the sauce later.
- Add the butter with the heat off to thicken the sauce. The butter helps to thicken the sauce and make it richer. If the heat is on, the butter will melt too fast and the sauce will not thicken.
- Storage: Place in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Reheating: Reheat on the stove top or microwave until warmed through. If pasta is sticking together, add a drizzle of olive oil to loosen.
- Chicken cutlets: Chicken thighs.
- Other types of protein: Salmon, pork chops or veal
- Pasta: Angel hair, fettuccine, bucatini or linguini
Capers: Green olives or pickled cornichons, diced - Veggie add-ins: Mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, asparagus.
- If omitting wine, use chicken broth to deglaze the pan
Nutrition
Calories: 790kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 50g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 701mg | Potassium: 924mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 590IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 3mg