Chicken piccata with lemon and capers, olive oil and parsley linguine

Name: Chicken piccata with lemon and capers, olive oil and parsley linguine
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 400 g Skinless chicken breast escalopes (150 g each) (4 thin escalopes, 100 g each, or 2 chicken breasts of 200 g sliced horizontally by the butcher into 4 thin escalopes; ask the butcher to flatten them to 6–7 mm, no more than 1 cm); 30 g Plain wheat flour (3 level tbsp for a light dusting, not a crust); 70 g Extra virgin olive oil (7 tbsp: 3 for searing, 2 to emulsify the sauce and 2 for the linguine); 100 g Kosher dry white wine (half a glass (100 ml)); 120 g Lemon (1 medium lemon: all the finely grated zest and 40 g juice (3 tbsp, about three-quarters of the lemon); taste before adding the rest); 25 g Capers (2 heaped tbsp, preferably salt-packed, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes and drained; rinse vinegar-packed capers thoroughly); 20 g Flat-leaf parsley (a large handful of leaves, chopped: half for the pasta and half for the sauce); 5 g Garlic (1 clove, thinly sliced, for the linguine); 220 g Linguine (110 g per person); 20 g Coarse salt (2 tbsp for the pasta water, 10 g per litre); 4 g Fine salt (1 scant tsp: for both sides of the escalopes, plus a pinch for the sauce if needed); 1 g Ground black pepper (1/2 tsp)

meat Italian · easy · 30 min, including 25 hands-on

Thin chicken escalopes, lightly dusted with flour, seared in olive oil and coated in a bright lemon, white wine and caper sauce. Ready in half an hour, with parsley linguine dressed with a little of the sauce.

Ingredients for two

400 g	Skinless chicken breast escalopes (150 g each) 4 thin escalopes, 100 g each, or 2 chicken breasts of 200 g sliced horizontally by the butcher into 4 thin escalopes; ask the butcher to flatten them to 6–7 mm, no more than 1 cm
30 g	Plain wheat flour 3 level tbsp for a light dusting, not a crust
70 g	Extra virgin olive oil 7 tbsp: 3 for searing, 2 to emulsify the sauce and 2 for the linguine
100 g	Kosher dry white wine half a glass (100 ml)
120 g	Lemon 1 medium lemon: all the finely grated zest and 40 g juice (3 tbsp, about three-quarters of the lemon); taste before adding the rest
25 g	Capers 2 heaped tbsp, preferably salt-packed, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes and drained; rinse vinegar-packed capers thoroughly
20 g	Flat-leaf parsley a large handful of leaves, chopped: half for the pasta and half for the sauce
5 g	Garlic 1 clove, thinly sliced, for the linguine
220 g	Linguine 110 g per person
20 g	Coarse salt 2 tbsp for the pasta water, 10 g per litre
4 g	Fine salt 1 scant tsp: for both sides of the escalopes, plus a pinch for the sauce if needed
1 g	Ground black pepper 1/2 tsp

Method

Bring 2 litres water to the boil in a large 5-litre saucepan with the coarse salt. Meanwhile, soak salt-packed capers in a bowl of cold water, or thoroughly rinse those in vinegar. Finely grate the lemon zest, yellow part only, and squeeze 40 g juice (3 tbsp). Chop the parsley and thinly slice the garlic. Pat the escalopes dry with kitchen paper, season both sides with salt and pepper and leave on a plate. Put the flour in a shallow dish but do not coat the chicken yet: flouring ahead would make it gummy rather than golden.
Once the water boils, heat 30 g oil in a 28 cm frying pan over a high heat. As it heats, coat the escalopes one at a time in flour and tap off the excess, leaving just a fine dusting. As soon as the oil shimmers, add them in a single layer, in two batches if they would overlap. Add the linguine to the boiling water, with the second batch if cooking two, and stir during the first minute. Cook for 1 minute less than the packet instructions, about 8–9 minutes, exactly the time needed for the chicken and sauce. Sear 6–7 mm-thick escalopes undisturbed for 1 minute 30 seconds, then for 1 minute on the other side; for 1 cm-thick pieces, allow 2 minutes then 1 minute. They should be golden but still springy and will finish in the sauce. Set aside on a plate covered with an inverted plate.
If any flour crumbs have blackened, remove them with a spoon, leaving the oil. Reduce the heat to medium and pour in the white wine, which will sizzle. Scrape up the browned juices with a wooden spoon and reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, drained capers and a small ladleful (100 g) of pasta water, then simmer for 1 minute. Taste: the sauce should be bright and well seasoned; add a pinch of salt if the capers were thoroughly rinsed.
Return the escalopes and their juices to the pan over a medium heat for 30 seconds on each side, turning in the sauce just to warm and coat them. The flour will thicken the sauce slightly. Turn off the heat and cover.
Taste a strand of linguine: it should still be firm in the centre. Drain in a colander, reserving a glass of cooking water. Immediately return the empty, still-hot saucepan to a low heat with 20 g oil and the garlic, which will colour in 30 seconds. As soon as it turns golden, add the linguine, half the parsley, 2 tbsp sauce from the chicken pan and 50 g pasta water, a small splash. Toss with tongs over a high heat for 30 seconds until glossy and slippery, never dry.
Return to the chicken pan, off the heat. Drizzle in 20 g olive oil, add the zest and remaining parsley, and swirl the pan to emulsify: the sauce becomes silky and glossy without butter. Taste: it should be lemony but rounded; if too sharp, add a spoonful of pasta water. Serve immediately, with linguine beneath two escalopes per plate and the remaining sauce and capers spooned over the chicken.

Lighter version

Linguine : 140 g
Extra virgin olive oil : 45 g
add Rocket 100 g (1 bag, as a bed beneath the escalopes)

Sear in 20 g oil, in one batch if possible; otherwise use 10 g per batch in a very hot pan, removing burnt flour crumbs between batches. Finish the sauce with 10 g oil and the linguine with 15 g oil, 2 tbsp sauce and 50 g pasta water, as in the main recipe. Serve the escalopes on a bed of raw rocket, which the hot sauce will gently wilt.

70 g pasta per person, about a third less oil and some rocket: the same sauce on a greener plate.

On your plate

Recipe

995 kcal · protein 62 g · carbs 88 g · fat 41 g

Quantities per person

200 g Skinless chicken breast escalopes (150 g each)
15 g Plain wheat flour
35 g Extra virgin olive oil
50 g Kosher dry white wine
60 g Lemon
12.5 g Capers
10 g Flat-leaf parsley
2.5 g Garlic
110 g Linguine
10 g Coarse salt
2 g Fine salt
0.5 g Ground black pepper

Cooking tips

Do not flour the chicken in advance: the flour absorbs moisture and sticks instead of browning. Coat it while the oil heats. This is a meat meal, so no butter: the dusting of flour and oil added off the heat bind the sauce. Try turkey or veal escalopes, 120 g each, cooked for 1 minute 30 seconds per side, or replace the linguine with 500 g potato wedges, steamed for 20 minutes and dressed with the sauce. For a starter, make caponata the day before; it is better cold, leaving only the piccata to cook in the evening. Slice leftover cold escalopes the next day and serve in a lemon-dressed rocket salad.

Equipment : 28 cm frying pan, 5-litre saucepan for the pasta, colander, kitchen tongs, wooden spoon, fine grater for the zest, shallow dish for flouring, 2 plates for keeping the escalopes warm

Milanese scaloppine al limone, or piccata, adapted by Italian Americans with capers and chicken; made here with olive oil and no butter for a meat meal.