Easy Chicken Picatta

I strayed from my usual baked ziti at Bellisimo in Colleyville and tried the chicken picatta on a recent trip. Although Belisimo's baked ziti is the best baked ziti I've ever had, their chicken picatta held its own. Since chicken picatta is a little lighter than baked ziti, and the weather has been warming up, I decided to give it a try. Here is my super simple version of chicken picatta and I promise you won't regret it!

Ingredients:

2 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and cut in half

1/4 cup chicken stock

6 Tbs. olive oil

4 Tbs. butter

juice of 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons

angel hair pasta (as much as you'd like...I used a little less than half a package for 2 people) flour

garlic powder

paprika

salt and freshly ground pepper

OPTIONAL:

capers

fresh lemon slices

Directions:

1. Boil pasta with a sprinkle of salt and splash of olive oil until desired texture (about 8 minutes).

2. Heat 2 Tbs. oil and 1 Tbs. butter in large pan.

3. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.

4. Cover chicken breasts in a light coating of flour.

5. Place 2 chicken pieces in pan once the oil begins to simmer and cook for 3 minutes, flip and cook for three more minutes, or until golden brown and no longer pink inside.

6. Take chicken off heat and place on plate (they're not finished yet, this is just a holding area).

7. Put 2 Tbs. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in pan with remaining oil and butter, cook the other 2 pieces of chicken the same way as the first two.

8. Remove chicken from pan add the final 2 Tbs. of olive oil, 2 Tbs. of butter, chicken stock and lemon juice (remove from heat to add these ingredients to avoid splattering and grease burns).

9. Bring sauce mixture to boil, then reduce to simmer.

10. Add all 4 chicken pieces back in to the pan with the sauce and let simmer for a minute or 2, coating each chicken piece in sauce.

11. Plate the angel hair pasta first, topped with chicken and remaining sauce.

12. Top with fresh lemon slices and capers if you have them.

13. You're gonna love it!

Gorgonzola Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Today was my fifth snow day in the past week, so my roommate and I decided that it was a perfect day for some gourmet cooking. In our search to find a recipe that only included the array of ingredients that we had in the kitchen (it's way too cold to go to the store), we decided on a recipe that my roomie has made before...Gorgonzola Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Chicken! YUM!!

Ingredients (adapted from allrecipes.com)
Feeds 2 people

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (our chicken breasts were sliced)
1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (we used dried parsley mixed with about a tablespoon of water)
2 tablespoons minced shallot (we used a white onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
4 thick slices of applewood smoked bacon
salt and ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Mash together the Gorgonzola cheese, parsley, shallot, and garlic in a small bowl; season with salt and black pepper.

Using a sharp knife, cut a slit into the thick side of each chicken breast about 2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches deep. If your chicken breasts are sliced, you can simply spoon the filling in to the center and roll them up).

Divide the filling in half, and stuff each chicken breast with cheese filling. Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each breast, and secure with wooden toothpicks. Place the chicken breasts into the prepared baking dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until the bacon is browned and the chicken is no longer pink inside, about 35 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a breast should read about 165 degrees F (75 degrees C).

If you want crispier bacon, you can pan sear the bacon/chicken presents in a little olive oil for a minute or until the bacon is crispy to your liking.

Enjoy!