Chicken Marsala is an incredibly flavorful meal. Once I tasted this, I desired to make this to perfection. I tried to acquire the recipe from an owner of a local Italian restaurant, he just smiled. I honestly didn’t expect to get it. However, I left more determined than ever to create it.
Upon doing some investigating, I found that Marsala is a fortified wine made from grapes indigenous to Sicily. I wasn’t sure whether I needed dry or sweet marsala when creating this dish, so I consulted a friend of mine, Karen,who owns a fabulous restaurant, which never disappoints the palate, called Bon Appetit in Seaford, Delaware.( If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it! Make sure to make reservations!) She recommended sweet.
I’ve made this several times since and it quickly became one Jim’s favorites to request, often for his birthday. Recently, I sent him to the wine store when I realized we were out; all they had was dry. I was a little concerned about the outcome, but it really didn’t affect it adversely. I researched and discovered that you can substitute dry for sweet Marsala, but not sweet for dry, generally. If I’m in the mood, I’ll make fresh pasta to accompany this dish. That makes it perfect!
We were having a dinner party recently to celebrate Jim’s birthday so of course, we were having Chicken Marsala. This is simple to create and takes minimal effort with such incredible results. Doubling this recipe was in order since we were having guests for this celebratory event. This “perfectly portioned” chicken was patted dry after removing them from their individually-wrapped packages before being salt and peppered. Ceramic cookware is great to use for this dish because not only because easy to clean up, but it makes cooking this dish a breeze! Melt butter over medium-low heat and add chicken to the pan. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Rotate pieces to ensure even cooking.
After cooking the chicken, set them aside like you see above. In the same skillet, add the other 2 T. of butter ( or 4 if you are doubling this). After it has melted, add in the mushrooms and cook until browned.
Pour the Marsala into the skillet scraping up any browned bits. Bring it to a boil and allow it to cook down a little bit. This would be a good time to start cooking the pasta.
Stir in the cream and fresh lemon juice. This will start to thicken up as it cooks down a little bit. Season it with salt and pepper to your liking at this point, Do not overly salt as the chicken will add a little of that flavor since it was seasoned before cooking.
Add the chicken back to the pan to warm back up, coating with sauce. Serve over prepared pasta. You will definitely need to store this with your special event menu file!
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 servings
- 1 pound fresh pasta or dried pasta-cooked
- 1 pound chicken breast cutlets thin sliced( about 4 )
- 4 T. butter, divided
- 8-16 oz. Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced-your preference
- ½ c. sweet Marsala wine
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Lightly salt and pepper chicken breasts.
- Sauté chicken in 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side.
- Remove from pan and set aside.
- Melt the remaining butter in pan and add mushrooms; cook until lightly browned.
- Add marsala and bring to a boil, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of pan.
- Add cream and lemon juice and return to a boil.
- Season with salt and pepper as your taste desires.
- Return chicken to pan for about 3 minutes to reheat and finish cooking.
- Serve with fettuccine or preferred pasta.
