Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

Chicken Breasts Marsala

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Simmer Marsala wine with skillet juices from sauteed chicken to create an unctuous sauce. reduce

Simmer Marsala wine with skillet juices from sautéed chicken to create an unctuous sauce.

Marsala is a Sicilian wine that achieved international fame when it was discovered by British sea merchant John Woodhouse in the late 18th Century. It has become a pantry staple in Italian home and restaurant kitchens. Because it’s fortified with a bit of distilled alcohol, the wine won’t spoil after opening.

Dry, sweet, and aged (vergine) Marsala wines are produced in the area around the port of Marsala in western Sicily. For savory dishes like these chicken breasts with rich cheese and slightly salty prosciutto, choose the dry version. 

Chicken Breasts Marsala
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Recipe type: Main course
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
  • 2½ to 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • Salt
Ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 6 to 8 thin slices (4 to 5 ounces) cooked ham or prosciutto
  • 6 to 8 thin slices (4 to 5 ounces) Gruyère cheese
  • 1 cup dry Marsala wine
Instructions
  1. Lay the chicken breasts, smooth side down, on a work surface. Loosen the tenderloins and open them like a book. With the smooth side of a meat pounder or heavy skillet, flatten the breasts to ¾-inch thickness. Season both sides with salt and a dusting of nutmeg.
  2. Place the flour on a large sheet of waxed paper. Lay an empty sheet of waxed paper beside it. Dip the chicken in the flour to coat both sides. Shake off excess and place the chicken on the empty sheet.
  3. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the foam subsides. Add the chicken in a single layer. Cook for about 4 minutes each side, or until well browned. Top each chicken breast with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese. Add the Marsala to the pan. Bring to a brisk simmer. Cook, swirling occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until it no longer smells of alcohol. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. With a spatula, place the chicken breasts on dinner plates. Drizzle with the wine sauce.

 

Recipe from our e-book SimpleiItaly Loves Chicken, available for purchase online at the Barnes & Noble Nook store and the amazon Kindle store.

 

100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go

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“Golden Days are easy to come by when you’re in Italy. They’re those days when Italy’s sensual pleasures harmonize, and you just bask in the golden glow of it all.”

—Susan Van Allen

I feel as if I know—and really like—Susan Van Allen, even though we’ve never met. Our lopsided relationship began the moment I opened her book 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go.

Skimming through each enticing destination with Susan is like traveling to Italy with a friend who’s funny, smart, adventurous and incredibly informed. Her ardor comes naturally, born at her Nana and Papa’s dining table Papa in Newark, New Jersey.

Susan—who lives in Los Angeles and writes for travel media as well as television— approaches Italy actively (and not only in her section on biking, hiking, boating and other get-a-move-on recreations.) She leads readers beyond passive tourism into engagement in the culture and with the people.

Author Susan Van Allen

Entries are grouped by special interest sections such as “The Divine: Goddesses, Saints, and The Blessed Virgin Mary,” “Gardens,” “Beaches,” and “Learn Italian Crafts and Culture.”

If you’re in Naples, you’ll be sure not to miss the Venus of the Beautiful Buttocks in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.

When you’re in Tuscany, you’ll go out of your way to experience the magical Tarot Garden in Capalbio, designed by artist Niki de Saint Phalle.

If you crave secret coves, you’ll find a way to Scopello on the western coast of Sicily. A free horseshoe-shaped expanse of white pebbles and fine sand is hugged by limestone towers and turquoise water. Oh, and Lo Zingaro National Park with its rocky hiking trails and panoramic vistas is next door.

And if hands-on is thumbs-up for you, choose a craft. Making masks or mosaics in Venice . . . weaving and embroidery in Perugia . . . cooking in the shadow of Greek temples in Paestum.

With the destinations, Susan includes tips on lodging and dining to make the experience a “Golden Day.” Recommended books, Web sites, Resources, and Advice from Other Writers are included to amplify the information.

I’ll be savoring the book in a cozy reading chair but when I do pack my bags for bel’italia, I just might want to download the 100 Places in Italy iPhone app. Just hope the olive oil massage at Masseria Torre Maizza in Puglia doesn’t smear the screen.

For a chance to win a free copy of 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, leave a comment. Please include your e-mail address in the comment box so we can contact you. The winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2010.

Sicilian Fig Tart

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Inspired by Sicilian cucidati, fig cookies, this lemon-glazed tart is a holiday work of art.

Inspired by Sicilian cucidati, fig cookies, this lemon-glazed tart is a holiday work of art.

Call me lazy — but not so lazy that I’d pass up the ideal holiday pastry.

I was crazy about cucidati, Sicilian tender-butter-crust filled fig and nut cookies, that are sweet, spicy and tart all at once. I’d gotten the recipe from Lee Davis and her son Tom Giliberto for a story I wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times. This was back when I had two young children and a full-time job so I didn’t have much spare time to roll and shape dozens of little stuffed pastry gems.

My AHA moment occurred when I realized I could adapt the recipe to make one BIG cookie (a tart baked in a removable bottom tart pan) that I could slice into wedges. For the winter holidays, I prepare this dessert up to a week before serving covered with foil and stored in a cool place. The honey, brandy, orange zest and spices actually mellow with time and enhance the flavor.

Italian-American master baker Nick Malgieri writes, “No one seems to agree about exactly what — besides figs — goes into the filling for these classic Sicilian cookies.” His version in Cookies Unlimited calls for almonds which are more typically Sicilian than walnuts. I, however, prefer walnuts but feel free to choose your own nut. Another area of confusion is the  name. I have read many variations, including cuccidati, buccellati, and cuddureddi. Undoubtedly, they are all irresistible.

Have you eaten or baked Sicilian fig cookies? What are the ingredients that make yours special? What do you call them?

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