One of the things I miss most about living near my family is Sunday dinner.  When I was living at home, it was always something I looked forward to, and it was my weekly chance to show off a little and make something extra scrumptious and more time-consuming than any other weeknight meal.

This is one of the most thumbed, stained recipes in my Ina Garten cookbook, and for good reason.  It’s a really simple dish – just the classic pan-fried pounded chicken with lemon-butter sauce.  I just love a lemon beurre blanc and Ina’s is so fantastic, I don’t change much and it’s one of the easiest ways to learn how to work with acid and butter.

One of the other great things about the recipe is that it halves or multiplies very easily, so you can make this for 2 or 4 or 8 easily every time. I like serving a nice pasta tossed simply with good olive oil and herbs on the side, but you can also serve rice or just a fresh salad too.

Chicken Piccata

Based on the recipe by Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa at Home.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 TBL water
• 1½ cups Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 4 TBL unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 lemons, halves reserved)
• ½ cup dry white wine
• Sliced lemon, for serving
• Chopped fresh parsley, for serving

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2.) Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or cling wrap and pound out to ¼-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

3.) Mix the flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a shallow dish, beat the egg and ½ tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures. Dredge all the breasts before you start to pan fry them.

4.) Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Wait until they are all fried and then place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

5.) For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, reserved lemon halves, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes.

6.) Take the pan off the heat, and then add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and top with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. Serve with pasta with fresh herbs and a nice green salad.