Easy Weeknight Chicken Scallopini

This delicious Chicken Scallopini is served over simple Parmesan noodles with a luscious sauce and is ready to serve in 30 minutes!

Every Saturday morning I sit down and make a grocery list and menu plan for the coming week.  I jot the menu plan on the backside of my grocery list and keep it on my kitchen counter so that I can refer to it and stay on track throughout the week. I keep these little slips of paper and it’s fun to look back over the weeks and months to see what I’ve been cooking.  It helps me remember dishes we really liked and also inspires my menu plan.

Sometimes, while relaxing with my coffee on Saturday morning, I can have some pretty unrealistic ideas about what I’d like to cook for the week.  At the end of a completely crazed, frustrating, ridiculously overbooked day I curse the relaxed, coffee drinking Saturday morning version of myself that thought homemade lasagna sounded good. I’ve learned to force myself to add in two or three super quick, easy meals for when I have one of those days. You know the days I’m talking about.

This is a dish for one of those days.  You can throw this together in thirty minutes, but the end result is unbelievably tasty.  The chicken is sauteed in a little butter and olive oil and then you make a quick pan sauce that gives it an elegant, sophisticated flavor making it worthy of serving to guests but easy and quick enough to throw together on a busy weeknight.  Don’t skip the fresh chives.  They add to the flavor but also add a nice brightness to the dish that makes for a very nice presentation.A word about chicken broth.  I always keep this stuff on hand so I can mix up very high quality, low-sodium broth as needed.  You can control the strength and richness of the broth by adding more or less of this base and it doesn’t take up much room in the fridge.  Our local Costco carries this reduced sodium version which is what I always use.  It’s good stuff.

Easy Weeknight Chicken Scallopini

Prep Time Preparation 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Serves 6 servings     adjust servings

This delicious dish is elegant enough to serve to guests but is ready to serve in 30 minutes.

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil. divided
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 6 thin-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt (like Lawry's), or to taste
• Fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1-1/2 cups chicken broth (prepared with chicken base if available)
• 1/4 cup dry sherry wine
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 fresh chives, cut into small pieces
• Thin spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. If chicken pieces are large, cut them into smaller serving-size pieces.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon each of the butter and oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook about 4 minutes each side, until golden brown and no longer pink inside.   Season each side of the chicken with seasoning salt and pepper to taste while cooking.  Transfer chicken to a platter or large rimmed serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm.  Repeat with remaining butter, oil, and chicken.
3. Mix cornstarch with water in small bowl and set aside.  Add garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring for just a minute or two until softened and fragrant, being careful not to burn. Add broth, sherry, and mustard to the skillet.  Using a whisk, scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet to blend with the sauce.  Add the cream and simmer a few more minutes, stirring constantly.  Add cornstarch/water slurry to skillet and stir until slightly thickened.  Add chicken back to pan, spooning sauce over chicken and sprinkle with chives.
4. Toss prepared pasta with a little olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Serve chicken over prepared pasta with sauce drizzled over the top.
5. Note about scaling down:  If you scale this down and use less chicken, I would not recommend scaling down the sauce ingredients.  A little extra sauce is never a bad thing.