The Last Chicken Picata Recipe You'll Ever Need

This is a really simple dish, one every home cook can master with ease. And with just 10 ingredients, you probably have most or all of what you need in your kitchen right now!

If you're not in love with capers (they are pickled flower buds for the uninitiated), just use less. You'll need the a couple tablespoons of the pickling liquid from the jar to complete the sauce though.

I was going to write out the whole recipe, but I made this poster for my sister a few years back. If you follow these directions, you can't go wrong:

What's really cool is if you make this once or twice, from then on out you can just "wing it", it's really hard to screw this up. Then your friends will be really impressed when this meal comes together in just a few minutes!

So here's the plan: once you have your boneless & skinless chicken breasts, slice them horizontally from end to end, so you have two long, flat pieces of chicken. Put them (one at a time) between two sheets of plastic wrap or in a gallon-sized Zip-Loc bag, and pound them with a mallet, a rolling pin, or even a heavy mug until they are 1/4" thin; be careful not to tear them. Season them with salt, dredge them in flour and cook them over medium heat until they're brown. Put them aside and you can start the sauce.

This part cook really fast, so make sure all your ingredients are ready before you start! Thrown in a little olive oil to the pan, the onion & the garlic, and cook over medium heat till the onions are translucent and the garlic starts to soften. Keep an eye on the pan, the garlic will go from done to burnt in about 15 seconds! Once that's done, add the chicken stock, the wine (you can have a little for your glass too), and the lemon juice. Cook it down over high heat till it's reduced by about 50%, and the alcohol from the wine evaporates. Season with sale & pepper, and swirl in the butter. Put the chicken and any accumulated juices back in the pan, throw the capers on top and cover the pan. Turn the heat to low to get everything hot; it should just take a minute or two.

Time to Eat!

If you have some handy, sprinkle the chicken (and a little on the plate too) with some chopped Italian parsley.