Chicken Pic Pic PiccATA!

Are you ready for some Yum City?  Ok, here you go: this chicken piccata recipe has all of the drama of the classic rich satisfying sauce minus the extra stick of Paula Deen, er, butter.  Do you love lemons and capers and garlic, oh my?  Then this recipe is for you.  I know it has a lot of steps but this is a perfect meal to make on a Saturday night when you can cook with your sweetie and have a glass of wine and enjoy the process of cooking!  Then again, I made it on a Monday after work and it was easy peasy... and for the two of us, we had the leftovers the next night!  It's a "twofer"!  :)

Ingredients:

6 oz whole-wheat angel hair pasta (I used fresh spinach instead of pasta, still DELISH)

1/3 all purpose flour, divided

2 c reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 t salt, divided

1/4 t freshly ground pepper

4 chicken cutlets (3/4-1 lb total), trimmed (I just used 4 frozen chicken breasts, thawed)

3 t extra-virgin olive oil

1 10-oz pkg mushrooms, sliced (I used baby 'bella mushrooms from the bulk bin, maybe 10 mushrooms)

3 large cloves garlic (I used 30.  Hee hee, I used, like, 7 but I would have used 30 if I were single...)

1/2 c white wine

2 T lemon juice (I used the juice of one lemon)

1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

2 T capers, rinsed

2 t butter

Instructions:

Bring large pot of water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes or according to package directions.  Drain and rinse.

Meanwhile, whisk 5 teaspoons flour into the broth until smooth, set aside.  Place remaining flour in shallow dish.  Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper and dredge both sides of chicken in flour.  Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken and cook until browned and no longer pink in the middle, 2 to 3 minutes per side.  Transfer to plate, keep warm (I kept it in the oven on low, the chicken stayed juicy because of the flour crust).

Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they release their juices and being to brown, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to plate.  Add garlic and wine to the pan and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes.  Stir in the reserved broth-flour mixture, lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the parsley, capers, butter and reserved mushrooms.  Measure out 1/2 cup of the mushroom sauce.  Toss the pasta in the pan with the remaining sauce.  Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and the reserved sauce.  Bon Appetit!

This recipe I found on the Food Network website while looking for dinners on a budget!  Woot!