I like to think of anything laced with marsala sauce or cooked in this fashion as being authentic to Italian cuisine and ancient in its origins.  It reminds me of hunter stews from around Europe with its basic ingredients.  Marsala wine, however, in its current sweetened state, only dates back to the 1800’s when the British began adding brandy to the local Sicilian wine to preserve it for shipping back to their country.  So, while it may not be “ancient”, I can’t find any information that implies that it is not an original dish from the Italians.  I would take it either way.  Yum!

I needed marsala wine for many of the recipes for our medieval feast, but still ended up with more than half a bottle left.  Of course Chicken Marsala was the perfect way to help empty that bottle.  This is how I generally make mine.  Hope I don’t offend any “authentic” Italians.  😉

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. sliced button mushrooms

3 lbs. chicken breasts,  I used chicken tenderloins because two out of three grocery stores that week were OUT of chicken breasts. Yes, completely out.  Living in the mountains can be tricky at times.  The tenderloins were moist and delicious.

1/2 c. marsala wine

1/2 c. onions, julienne

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 c. chicken stock

2 T butter

Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Pound the chicken pieces with a meat mallet until they are of uniform thickness.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper.

Heat about a 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom of a saute pan over med. to high heat.

Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture.

Brown them in the oil on both sides and transfer them to absorbent paper.

Add the butter to the pan that the chicken was browned in.

Saute garlic in the butter until it is about to turn golden.

Add the onions and saute until translucent.

Toss in the mushroom slices and cook until they begin to darken.  Stirring constantly over medium heat.

Deglaze the pan with the marsala, scraping the pan to get any brown bits off the bottom.

Simmer 2 to 5 minutes and add the stock.

Reduce the liquid until it is thickened and return the chicken pieces to the pan.

Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temp. of 165.

Makes 8 servings.