Today, please check out an amazing Lidia Bastianich recipe: Breast of Chicken in a Light Lemon-Herb Sauce.
I make this all the time. You can set all the components up in advance, and then bake it when it’s getting close to din din time. Yeah. You heard me. I said, “din din.”
The recipe is from one of my most prized cookbooks, “Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen.”
The recipes are fantastic, and Lidia explains her techniques and procedures clearly and concisely. It’s really worth the bucks.
This dish requires ingredients that I always have on hand, but it is elegant enough that you could totally serve it for company. I usually serve it with orzo or rice, a vegetable and/or salad. Enjoy!
Breast of Chicken in Light Lemon Herb Sauce
Course: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes18
minutesIngredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves (about 5 ounces each)
½ cup fine, dry bread crumbs
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 ½ tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
Salt
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup chicken stock or canned reduced sodium chicken broth
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tsp. crushed hot red pepper
4 cloves garlic, peeled
Directions
- Cut each chicken breast half in half crosswise on a diagonal, to yield two pieces of roughly equal size. Place two pieces at a time between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pound gently with the flat side of a meat mallet or the bottom of a small, heavy saucepan to flatten them slightly, to about ½ inch thick. (Please note: The Jersey Girl buys about 10-12 thin sliced chicken breasts so she can skip the step of slicing thicker chicken breasts.)
- Toss the bread crumbs, 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, 1 Tbsp. of the chopped parsley, ½ tsp. of the oregano and salt to taste in a bowl until blended.
- Spread 1 tsp. of bread-crumb mixture over each piece of chicken, reserving the remaining crumbs. Roll each chicken piece into a compact shape with the bread crumbs running in a spiral through the center and fasten securely with a toothpick.
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Arrange the filled chicken breasts side by side in a 13 x 9-inch, preferable flameproof baking dish. (There should be some space between the pieces of chicken, but please note The Jersey Girl placed this round of chicken rolls shown in the photos really close together because she realized she selected a too-small pan a little late in the game. It all still worked, though.)
- Stir the wine, stock, lemon juice, hot pepper, the remaining 3 Tbsp. Olive oil, the remaining teaspoon of oregano and salt to taste together in a small bowl. Pour into the baking dish.
- Whack the garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife and scatter them among the chicken pieces. Bake 10 minutes.
- Top the chicken with the remaining bread-crumb mixture. Return to the oven and bake until the bread-crumb topping is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- If the roasting pan is flameproof, place it directly over medium high heat, add the remaining 2 Tbsp. parsley and bring the pan juices to a boil. Boil until lightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. (If the roasting pan is not flameproof, transfer the chicken rolls to a warm platter and pour the juices into a skillet before bringing them to a boil.) Remove the garlic cloves, or leave them in if you like. Gently transfer the chicken pieces to plates with a slotted spoon. Pull the toothpicks from the chicken without loosening the bread-crumb topping. Pour the sauce around, not over, the chicken pieces and serve immediately.
Please note: The Jersey Girl does not thicken the pan juices and just serves as is straight from the oven.
