Chicken Piccata Recipe with Capers and Mushrooms

While Italian is one of the most popular cuisines in the world today, we hardly ever think of Italian dishes beyond the simple pasta and pizza. It is very well-known that the Italians love their food. Hence, the Italian cuisine is commensurately highly populated! If you've ever been to a real Italian's restaurant, if you look closely, that place will, along with the common dishes, also have a pretty large variety of 'chef's specials'. That's how much the Italians love to cook!

The word 'piccata' is generally associated with veal. But the chicken piccata is a very popular dish in many Italian households. Delicious, and so easy to make! The term 'chicken piccata' is quite a generic one and it gives the gourmets among us a great chance of creative experimenting. It is basically a dish of chicken beaten with flour and pasta. The rest is up to you really... Your tastes, your ingredients and your creativity. So you can make your own range of chicken piccata recipes! Here, we're going to add a little twist to the traditional recipe by adding some mushrooms and capers...

Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms and Capers (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
• cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• salt, to taste
• teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 chicken cutlets (1 pound total), trimmed
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1, 10-ounce package mushrooms, sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 2 teaspoons butter

Preparation:
First we have to boil a large pot of water. Once the water boils, we put in the angel hair pasta. We have to let the pasta cook for about 4-6 minutes till it becomes soft. Once done, drain the water and remove the pasta.

Then we beat (piccata) the chicken broth and 5 teaspoons of the flour together. Then, we have to season the chicken with salt and pepper (as per taste, but generally teaspoon of each is used), and dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour. Once dredged, heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a non stick skillet. Pan-fry the chicken for 2-3 minutes per side on a medium heat till the chicken turns brown and then remove it off the skillet and keep it warm.

The last 1 teaspoon of oil is used to pan fry the mushrooms over a medium heat. Once the oil is heated, we add the mushrooms and cook them for 5 minutes, till they brown and start releasing the juice. Next, add garlic and wine to the pan and cook for 1-2 more minutes. We take this mixture and stir it in the flour-broth mix with the lemon juice and another teaspoon of salt. Put the gas on a low flame and cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes, till the sauce thickens.

Next, add the parsley, capers and remaining mushrooms. Add the pasta into the pan and cook, continuously stirring. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and voil!! Your easy mushroom chicken piccata is ready!

Nutritional Facts

Each serving contains:

• 397 calories
• 9 g fat (3 g sat, 3 g mono)
• 54 mg cholesterol
• 45 g carbohydrate
• 28 g protein
• 5 g fiber
• 544 mg sodium
• 609 mg potassium

Buon Appetito!