Chicken marsala is a classic Italian restaurant dish. Pound some chicken flat, flour it up, fry it up with some mushrooms and douse it with marsala wine. Not bad. Not great. And more work than it’s worth. Why not do away with the scaloppine? Go in a more rustic, hearty direction? Bring it into cacciatora territory? I bet that’s where chicken marsala comes from anyway. Italian home cooking five hundred years ago. I say let’s go back.
italian
roast chicken with lemon caper sauce
Is there a rule that says piccata has to be veal or chicken scaloppini? If there is, I’m breaking it. Lemon, capers and chicken is a great flavour combination. You can make it even better, though. Imagine adding the goodness of a roasted poultry fond to it. Roast chicken with lemon caper sauce. That’s a whole different piccata flavour experience.
lemon rosemary chicken
Lemon rosemary chicken with roasted potatoes. This is Italian comfort food. It’s easy enough to make during the week but good enough to share with friends. With foodie friends.
chicken diavolo
Chicken diavolo is about the most flavour you can load into a dish. Big, bold Italian flavours. It’s so good. And its easy enough for a weeknight dinner.
sausage with peppers
Sausage with peppers. A classic American-Italian dish. Fry some sausage. Add peppers and onions. A bit of garlic. Some dried oregano and basil. Pile it on a hoagie. Melt some cheese. That’s downtown.
Roast sausage for colour. Sweat peppers and onion slowly until melting. Add white wine. Reduce. Now the tomato. Simmer. Add the browned sausage. Simmer a bit more to bring the flavours together. Serve on polenta enriched with butter, cream and fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano. Simple, clean tastes. That’s uptown.
braised leeks with parmesan
Make braised leeks with parmesan. Be a trend setter. Dare to be different. Leeks gets a bum rap. They are the ignored vegetable. Shunned. They’re not an onion, not a scallion, not a shallot. What are they then? “Hmm… They’re big. I’m not really sure. I hear they are good in soup. I think you can put it in a stew? Maybe? I don’t know… What do you do with them?”
neapolitan lasagna with fresh mozzarella
Neapolitan lasagna is a delicious baked pasta dish made with a rich rag and fresh mozzarella. It is a lasagna for when your regular lasagna just won’t do.
chicken with sun-dried tomato cream sauce
Chicken with sun-dried tomato. A dish that used to be on every menu. A fad that came and went. It’s too bad. Sun-dried tomatoes are a great ingredient. Little tomato flavour bombs in whatever dish they’re used in.