Easy weeknight dinners: Lemon Chicken; Penne Carbonara
1. LEMON CHICKEN; Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 1 cup of bread crumbs; 2 lemons; 1 cup of flour; salt and pepper; 4 Tbsp olive oil; 3 Tbsp unsalted butter (optional); 2 eggs; 1/2 cup white wine; 2 cups chicken stock; 2 Tbsp chopped capers.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Trim 4 chicken breasts of skin and fat and cut them in half (so that they are half as thick as they were). Now you have 8 thin chicken breasts. Coat them with flour and shake off the excess.
Whisk two eggs in a bowl and season them with a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread 1 cup of bread crumbs on a dinner plate. Dip the floured chicken breasts in the egg, then coat them with bread crumbs. Press down on the chicken with your fingers as you apply the bread crumbs to make sure they adhere well.
In a large non-stick saute pan, heat four Tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken to the pan — don’t crowd it, they should not even be close to touching. If you need to, cook chicken in two or more batches. Saute three minutes. Flip over with tongs. Saute four minutes more. Remove chicken from pan and place on an ovenproof plate. Put the plate into the warm oven while you finish your dish.
Reduce the heat under the saute pan to low. Add 1/2 cup white wine (something good enough to drink but not extraordinary) and 2 cups chicken stock (preferably the homemade one you have ready in the fridge for such occasions, but if store-bought that’s fine too). Let this bubble for a minute while you stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up any food bits and stirring them into the sauce. Add 2 Tbsp capers (which you should chop up a tiny bit first) and 2 Tbsp lemon zest (just the outside yellow lemon skin without the white pith underneath… wash the lemon first!!). Let this cook two minutes so it can thicken up a little. If you want to thicken it up a little more (and make it a little tastier) add in 3 Tbsp unsalted butter. Whisk in the butter, then remove from heat.
Arrange Chicken on a serving platter. Top with sauce. Garnish with a little more lemon zest and some lemon slices. Serve on top of rice, couscous, or polenta.
2. PENNE CARBONARA; Serves 3
Ingredients: 1/2 lb pancetta; 2 eggs; salt and pepper; 1/4 cup heavy cream; 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese; a few Tbsp chopped Italian parsley; 1/2 lb penne pasta.
Dice 1/2 pound of pancetta and saute it in a non-stick pan until brown and crispy. Season it with some freshly ground black pepper, then remove it from the heat and set it aside. Beat 2 eggs with 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir in 1/2 cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
Cook the penne in a large pot of salted, boiling water until al dente, approximately 9 minutes. Drain the pasta very well, then return it to the pot that you cooked it in. Add the pancetta and the cream/eggs to the pasta. The eggs are being cooked by the hot pasta. Stir ferociously at first so the cream does not curdle.
Garnish the pasta with some more grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and the chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread and salad.
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