Classic Chicken Marsala

This classic American-Italian Dish is comfort food at it’s best. Crank up the Pavarotti, uncork a bottle of wine, and prepare yourself for a meal that will challenge the best New York Italian hole-in-the-wall joint any day.

Best part? Easy: 30 minutes start to finish.

This post was last updated Feb 27, 2024

You Will Need

1. A Decent Chef Knife
2. 12 inch Cast Iron Skillet, Sauté Pan, or wide braising dish
3. A Long Handled Wooden Spoon

Ingredients

1. 2 chicken breasts, butterflied in half lengthwise, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness. Seriously, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this.
2. 1/4 cup flour (for dredging)
3. Generous pinch Kosher salt
4. Generous few grinds course black pepper
5. Pinch paprika
6. 1/4 cup ghee, clarified butter, or other reasonably high smoke point fat
7. 5oz prosciutto, torn into strips by hand
8. 8oz Cremini mushrooms, halved or quartered depending on size
9. 3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced
10. 1 small shallot, finely minced
11. 1 cup dry Marsala wine
12. 1.5 cups low sodium chicken stock
13. 1 packet unflavored gelatin
14. 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
15. 2 tablespoons heavy cream or Mexican Crema
16. 1/4 teaspoon sugar
17. 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (or any vinegar will do)
18. Parmesan cheese, to finish
19. 1 lb pasta, cooked according to package directions (I like Thin Spaghetti or Angel Hair, but a thicker noodle would be good too)

Mise En Place

1. Butterfly chicken breasts and pound to 1/4 inch thick cutlets using a mallet, rolling pin, or the side of a glass bottle. Use glancing blows, and be gentle.
2. Place pounded chicken cutlets in a plastic or paper bag along with flour, Kosher salt, black pepper and paprika. Shake vigorously until well coated and set aside.
3. Tear prosciutto into strips by hand. Set aside
4. Halve or quarter mushrooms, depending on size: You want them to still be identifiable at the end of the dish, so we’re going for medium size pieces here.
5. Mince garlic and shallot (no shallot? Use 1/4 of an onion) and reserve in a small bowl
6. Measure out 1 cup dry Marsala and reserve
7. Measure out 2 cups chicken stock and sprinkle with 1 packet unflavored gelatin
8. Measure out cream and reserve.
9. Locate sugar, vinegar, and salt as needed

Method

1. Heat 1/4 cup ghee or clarified butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet or sauté pan. It should be shimmering but not smoking (if it begins to smoke, don’t worry, just lower the heat a bit).
2. Lay floured chicken cutlets into the pan. Confidently lay them away from you in case any fat spatters – hot fat can smell fear, so be quick and careful.
3. Fry chicken cutlets until nicely browned, 3-5 minutes, and flip, cooking another 2 minutes. If they’re not completely cooked through this is okay; they’ll finish cooking in the sauce at the end. Reserve on a plate.
4. Add mushrooms. There will be a lot of fat in the pan which the mushrooms will quickly absorb.
5. Sauté until the pan begins to look somewhat dry and the mushrooms begin to brown
6. Add prosciutto and continue to stir until prosciutto begins to brown and render its fat
7. Add garlic and shallot and continue to sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
8. Crank up the heat. Add Marsala wine and flambe, or cook down for a few minutes until the raw alcohol has evaporated.
9. Add chicken stock (with gelatin) to deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
10. Reduce heat to medium, and continue to cook until sauce is somewhat thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
11. Add in heavy cream and bring to a simmer; continue to reduce until sauce is desired consistency
12. Taste sauce for seasoning. Balance with sugar, vinegar, salt, and additional cream as needed.
13. Lower heat to medium- low. Return chicken cutlets to pan and simmer until fully cooked through, 5 minutes.
14. Garnish with parsley. Serve over pasta with Parmesan cheese.