This savory dish gets its devilish flavor from a mixture of spicy Calabrian chili paste, tangy Dijon mustard and sharp Pecorino Romano cheese. Charred bread and arugula on the side make sure you won’t waste any sauce.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 30 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast (no tenders)
- Salt and pepper
- AP flour, about 1 cup
- 3 large eggs
- 1 scant tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil or vegetable oil (light in color olive oil or safflower oil)
- 2 lemons
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 large cloves garlic, 1 crushed or chopped, 1 halved
- About 3/4 cup white wine
- 1 tablespoon Calabrian chili paste, harissa or sriracha
- About 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- A handful flat-leaf parsley, for serving
- 1 loaf ciabatta bread, 12 to 14 inches long, halved
- EVOO, for drizzling
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
- 1 large bundle arugula, cleaned, or boxed leaves
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients and a gel board to prepare chicken.
- Halve the chicken breasts horizontally and butterfly them. Use a mallet to thin meat or even it out if needed — it depends on the size of the chicken breasts. Season meat with salt and pepper.
- Set a station up: Flour in shallow dish; eggs beaten with mustard, milk, salt, pepper and cheese; large frying pan with oil (4 to 5 turns of the pan); a baking sheet with wire rack inserted and lined with parchment paper to remove the chicken to.
- Preheat the oil in skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Coat chicken 2 at a time in flour, shake of excess, then in egg and allow excess to drip off. Cook chicken 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Repeat, removing cooked chicken to wire rack. Once chicken is cooked, slice and lightly brown 1 lemon; add to pan with chicken. Wipe excess oil from pan, return to heat and add butter. When it foams add 1 clove crushed garlic, juice of 1 lemon, wine and chili paste and reduce about 3 minutes. Add stock and reduce 5 minutes more. Pick and chop the parsley.
- Char the bread over gas burner or under broiler. Rub charred bread with halved garlic, drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and cut bread into chunks.
- Add the chicken back to sauce and heat the meat through, 3 to 4 minutes, turning occasionally. Add the sliced lemons and coat with sauce. Add parsley and transfer to plates. Serve cutlets with a small handful of arugula leaves alongside and some charred bread for mopping.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1198 |
| Total Fat | 53 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Carbohydrates | 83 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Sugar | 11 g |
| Protein | 87 g |
| Cholesterol | 371 mg |
| Sodium | 1714 mg |
Reviews
Yumo – chicken was so tender. Of course I can never leave well enough alone so I followed what another reviewer did – dredged the chicken in flour, then dipped in egg and back into the flour. Gave it a nice crust. Also needed the sauce thickened so did the cornstarch slurry thing. Def will be making this again
so amazing! One of our favorites
Delicious!
Wow – so delicious! Just made this recipe. The chicken was super tender and the arugula definitely compliments the dish. I used 1 tbsp Siracha – was good for me but slightly too spicy for my husband. Great recipe and we will have it again!
Loved this and super easy to make!
Family loved this. Got it to the table in just over30 minutes. Will be a go
to dinner
Awesome sauce
What did I do wrong? I made once before and it was perfect. This time it stuck to the pan and when I added it back to the sauce the breading continued to fall off? Only changes were I used a different pan and almond flour instead of regular flour? Was that the issue?
Delicious and easy to make. The chicken came out very tender.
This Chicken Francese will be one of the best things you’ve ever cooked for your family!!!
I make it once a week and each time, I feel like I’ve gone to an uptown Italian restaurant.
I actually prefer this to Chicken Piccata now, because the chicken is so tender, ‘cuz the egg coating keeps the protein from seizing up, which makes it tougher. The chicken melts in your mouth. This is the magic that professional high-end Chinese restaurants do to velvetize their tender dishes.
I now double the sauce. Also, I add a couple of teaspoons of of flour/corn starch to make a slurry, with the chicken broth, to thicken it up just a bit…don’t over do this part.
I throw in some capers in the sauce at the end, cuz I love them.
Great recipe, Rachel.
I usually serve it with some Bucatini Cacio de Pepe.