Every serious cook has a dish that they can cook without thinking or effort. It’s the meal that you want to define you, and one that continually delights everyone for whom you cook. In my case, it’s chicken marsala.

Occasionally, I experiment with the recipe. I’ve gone with mustard and marscapone. I’ve tried grilling the chicken. The former is nice, but really rich. The latter…not as much. The sauce needs to pick up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan for optimal flavor. You want things to meld together so it tastes like it was cooked together and not just a sauce you poured over the top. Harmony is a beautiful thing and you don’t achieve it when you cook the meat and sauce separately (Think about serving a roast beef with fresh-from-the-packet McCormick’s Beef Gravy.).

This is my version of chicken marsala. This is version 2.0. I almost always pair this with farfalle or penne pasta and make some extra sauce to coat it.

Chicken Marsala
By Jared Paventi

• 1/4 cup pan searing flour
• Four boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp herbes de provence
• 1/2 to 3/4 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (white, crimini, shitake), chopped and stemmed
• 2 tbsp shallots, chopped fine
• 2/3 cup dry marsala
• 1/3 cup of dry sherry
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Pound chicken to 1/4-inch thick. Dredge chicken in pan searing flour and add to heavy, deep skillet preheated on high. Brown chicken on both sides, 3-4 minutes, and remove.

Add shallots and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add wine and herbes. Cook to deglaze, scraping up brown bits at bottom of pan. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Return chicken to pan and cook until sauce is thick, about 10 minutes.