April Cooking--Chicken Marsala

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
3 ounces pancetta, chopped fine
8 ounces white button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 1/2 cups sweet Marsala
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. 
Spread the flour in a shallow dish

Pound the thicker ends of the breasts as needed.  Pat dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Dredge through the flour and shake off any excess. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add the chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and keep warm in oven. 

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet and return to medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pancetta and mushrooms. Cook until the pancetta is crisp and the mushrooms are brown, about 10 minutes. 

Stir in the garlic and tomato paste. Cook about 1 minute. Stir in the Marsala, scrapping up any browned bits, and simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, about 8 minutes. 

Stir in the lemon juice and any accumulated chicken juice.  Turn the heat to low and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time.  Off the heat, stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Spoon the sauce over the chicken before serving. 


I like to serve Garlic Mashed Potatoes and oven roasted asparagus with this.  Garlic Toast is good to mop up the delicious Marsala sauce too.