Chicken Marsala

Directions

• Step 1 Heat the oven to 250 degrees.
• Step 2 Line a large baking sheet with foil and set it aside.  Put the flour on a plate and set it aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Step 3 Cut the chicken breast halves into cutlets: Place a breast half on a cutting board with the thick end toward your dominant hand. Hold a sharp, thin-bladed knife parallel to the board, halfway up the side of the breast, and hold the breast steady with your other hand, keeping your fingers out of the way. Slice through the breast, parallel to the board, to cut it into two cutlets of approximately equal size and thickness. (Don’t worry if they’re not exactly the same.) Repeat with the remaining breast half or halves. Place each cutlet between two sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and pound them briefly with a meat mallet until they’re a uniform 1/2 inch thick from one end to the other. Season both sides of each piece with kosher salt and pepper.
• Step 4 Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Dredge half of the chicken cutlets in the flour and add them to the skillet. Cook the cutlets without moving them for 2 or 3 minutes, until the bottom sides are golden brown and from the top you can see the edges looking cooked and light in color. Flip the cutlets with tongs and cook the other side for 1 or 2 minutes (4 minutes total). Remove the chicken to the foil-lined pan and put it in the oven to keep warm.
• Step 5 Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan. Flour and saute the second batch of cutlets.  (You won’t use all of the flour.)  Move the second batch of cooked cutlets to the baking sheet and put it back in the oven. Lower the heat under the skillet to medium.
• Step 6 Add the mushrooms and shallots to the skillet. Season them with kosher salt and pepper, and saute until the mushrooms are starting to soften and the shallot is starting to brown, 2 or 3 minutes.
• Step 7 Add the marsala and chicken broth. Turn up the heat to medium-high and simmer the sauce until it’s reduced to a thick, almost syrupy consistency, about 7 minutes.
• Step 8 Meanwhile, once the water comes to a boil in the other pot, add a small handful of kosher salt and the pasta. After the water returns to a boil, add the pasta and cook it to al dente (2 minutes for homemade, or follow the time indicated on the package if store-bought). Drain the pasta, then return it to the same pot along with 1 tablespoon of butter. Cover the pot and move it to a location off the heat to sit.
• Step 9 Lower the heat in the skillet to medium and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until the butter is melted and the sauce is thick and glossy. Add the chicken cutlets back to the skillet to warm through for 1 or 2 minutes.
• Step 10 Use the tongs to toss the pasta with the butter you added earlier, separating the strands. Add kosher salt to taste.
• Step 11 Mound the pasta onto 4 dinner plates. Divide the chicken into 4 portions (if you have more than 4 cutlets, cut the extras into smaller pieces) and lay the chicken pieces on top of the pasta. Spoon the mushroom sauce over the top of the chicken, and sprinkle the parsley over all.