Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms and Pancetta

CHICKEN PICATTA with MUSHROOMS AND PANCETTA

What You’ll Need

• 1 lb angel hair pasta
• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt, pepper, paprika to taste
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp milk
• about 1/2 cup flour (enough to be able to toss chicken in to coat)
• 8 Tbsp olive oil (total)
• 6 Tbsp butter (total)
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 2 oz diced pancetta
• 1/3 cup chopped onions
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup dry white wine
• juice from 2 1/2 to 3 lemons
• about 1/4 cup capers, drained from juices
• salt/pepper, to taste
• Wondra or flour, to thicken
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian leaf parsley

What To Do:

• Place chicken breasts on chopping board, cover with plastic wrap and pound with a kitchen mallet until about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut each breast in 1/2 to make 4 serving pieces.
• Bring 3 Tbsp olive oil and 3 Tbsp butter to med-high heat; Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika (to taste) on both sides of each chicken pieces, dip in mixture of 1 egg and 2 Tbsp milk, then dredge in flour that has been placed in a shallow bowl.  When oil/butter pan is hot, add chicken to the pan and brown on each side about 2-3 min each side.  Remove from heat, cover and set aside.  Chicken does not need to be cooked through completely at this point… just browned.
• Add a couple more Tbsp olive oil to pan, reduce heat to medium, and add pancetta for about 4 min, stirring occasionally; Add mushrooms and chopped onion and cook until onions and mushrooms are soft (about 8 min), stirring occasionally… Can cover the skillet during this time to keep moisture in.
• Add wine to skillet and deglaze with spatula; Add chicken broth, lemon juice and capers; Bring to slow boil, reduce heat and simmer about 5 min; Thicken with Wondra as needed, stirring throughout, until liquid is “nectar consistency.” Add chicken back to finish cooking during last few minutes of thickening process.  Season with salt, pepper and sprinkle with parsley.
• Serve over angel hair pasta that has been cooked according to directions and seasoned with salt and pepper, and tossed in remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil and about 4 Tbsp butter.