Pasta Night: Ricky's Creamy Chicken Marsala

Our family is quite a little mixing bowl of diversity.  Ricky is half Italian and half Mexican.  I'm half white and half black.  When I'm filling out forms for my girls, I don't know which boxes to check!

Ricky has quite a few tasty Italian AND Mexican dishes up his sleeve.  My mom requests his meatballs for holidays...maybe he'll spill that recipe sometime for you all, too!  He started making this creamy marsala when he was in culinary school.  As much as he loves cooking, after a few months in culinary school, we decided the chef hours might not work with our family.  Hopefully one day we'll open up a food truck or something since we're both such foodies.

During my last trip to Russo's, I was in the bargain wine area and I spotted a bottle of Marsala. It has been on my shopping list for a while, but I always seem to forget it.  I knew instantly I had to bribe Ricky to make Chicken Marsala for me.  You can serve it with potatoes, pasta or even gnocchi, but since I was stocking up on the 99¢ pasta sale, it was angel hair for the side!

Speaking of the 99¢ pasta sale, be sure to stock up if you're in the area. The sale includes great, quality pasta in cuts that are hard to find! I love orzo for summer salads and Ditalini for soups, especially my Pasta Fagioli! Cavatappi is my girl's favorite because it looks like my curly hair--it pairs great with a creamy pesto sauce.  The Perciatelli is looks like spaghetti, but it's hollow--like thin straws. If you make a hearty meat sauce, this pasta compliments it perfectly!

If you're planning a dinner party, this Creamy Chicken Marsala is sure to wow the crowd. It's super simple to make, but looks so fancy!

Ricky's Creamy Chicken Marsala
Feeds 4-6

Here's What You Need:

• 2 pounds boneless chicken (we use a combination of thighs and breasts)
• 2 cups of flour, plus 2 tablespoons set aside
• 3 tablespoons canola or grape seed oil
• 3 (8 oz) containers of mushrooms, washed & sliced
• 1 shallot, chopped (substitute 1/4 cup onion)
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1.5 cups heavy cream (or half-half)
• 1 1/4 cups Chicken Stock

1. With a meat tenderizer or heavy pan, pound the chicken until about 1/2 inch thick.  Dry on paper towels
• This is a great way to get out some extra stress! Hehe.
2. Preheat a large pan with the oil (start with 2 tablespoons) over medium heat.
3. Put the flour in a pie pan and season generously with salt and pepper. Quickly coat the chicken, shaking off after covering with flour.  
4. Put 2-3 pieces of chicken in the pan at a time. Allow to brown, then flip.  
• Since they will cook in the sauce later, they just need to be a caramel brown on each side. Place on a paper towel while cooking the remaining chicken
5. Once the chicken is browned, you can start the sauce in the same pan. Do not worry about any leftover bits, those will add flavor to the sauce!
6. Add shallot and garlic to the pan, keeping on medium heat. Allow to cook 1-2 minutes. Add butter to pan and melt. Add mushrooms and bay leaf. 
7. Once the mushrooms release their water, slowly pour the Marsala in the pan. Bring to a bubble and allow to reduce in half. 
8. Slowly add heavy cream and chicken stock. From this point the sauce should bubble for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Sprinkle the sauce with 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk to thicken. 
10. Return chicken to pan and allow to cook through, covered in the sauce.
11. Serve immediately. Optional: sprinkle with parsley to add a pop of color.

Enjoy!

Be sure to check out yesterday's post all about G.B. Russo & Son aka Russo's! There are so many great finds there. 

What's your favorite Italian meal?