Chicken piccata is a favorite in our house. It has been a longtime favorite meal of mine and Beast made it for me the night we got home after having Ladybug. Our kids started really enjoying it when they were 4 and 5 and it is often requested when I am meal planning. Normally chicken piccata is chicken, noodles, and sauce without much in the way of vegetables. When they started eating it more frequently, I felt the need to try to sneak some additional veggies in. Also, we are a caper-loving family. It has taken me a bit of time to get this recipe ready to share because I kept being told “more capers.” I drew the line at one whole jar but I know Bear would edit this to include two jars if he had his way! So this recipe is just a little bit extra in a variety of ways. You simmer the sauce for quite a while to get it just right but it is well worth the time for this yummy Sunday Supper!
Ingredients:
- 3/4 to 1 whole bag egg noodles (12 to 16 oz)
- Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley
- Loaf of crusty bread
For the chicken:
- 1 package chicken breast tenders or chicken breast cut into strips
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
Sauce:
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 Tbsp or 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 3.5 oz jar (or less) capers
- 1 shallot
- 2 lemons (for zest and juice) or 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp water
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
Optional add-ins:
- Spiralized zucchini as another type of noodle
- Sliced mushrooms
- Jar of artichoke hearts
- Handful or two of fresh spinach
Recipe:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Open bottle of white wine and pour a glass to enjoy while cooking.
- Put the Just Good Music mix on Spotify.
- Lightly grease cookie sheet.
- “Paint” mayo on each side of chicken tenders with silicone brush.
- On a plate or shallow dish, mix panko, parmesan, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
- Press each mayo-coated chicken tender one at a time into the panko mixture to coat with breading on both sides.
- Place breaded chicken tenders on greased cookie sheet and set aside.
- If using mushrooms, cook mushrooms in a large saute pan on medium high heat with additional butter in small batches. Then remove from pan. Brown on each side. Flip once browned, do not stir.
- If using zucchini, spiralize in your favorite noodle size and place in colander in the sink. Will cook with pasta water later.
- Put a large pot of water on to boil for pasta (per package instructions).
- Heat olive oil in large saute pan on medium heat.
- Thinly slice shallot and add to hot pan.
- Saute shallot until translucent.
- Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds (until fragrant).
- Add wine and cook until reduced by half (~5 minutes).
- While reducing, zest and juice lemons.
- Add stock, lemon juice, and lemon zest to saute pan.
- Put chicken in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Add capers (and mushrooms and/or artichokes if using) to saute pan and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.
- While sauce is simmering, cook egg noodles according to package directly.
- Pour boiling water with noodles through colander with spiralized zucchini (if using). This lightly cooks the zucchini and makes sure the “zoodles” still have a good texture.
- Turn off heat on saute pan.
- Stir in spinach, if using.
- Stir in butter.
- Mix cornstarch with water until well combined.
- Stir cornstarch mixture into sauce.
- Mix 3/4 of sauce and cooked noodles in large serving dish.
- Top noodle/sauce mixture with cooked chicken tenders.
- Pour remaining sauce on top.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.
- Serve warm with crusty bread for dipping.
This is one of those meals where I find myself watching my children eat in complete awe. How can they possibly have another serving? They have each eaten more than Beast and I combined!
I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine!
Happy cooking!
Served With Love (in Colorado) 