Pollo Fantasia
There is nothing more enjoyable for me than going to dinner and seeing a Broadway show with my husband. There are many wonderful restaurants located in the theater district, but my absolute favorite one is a little Italian restaurant located on 47th Street. The restaurant itself is small, quiet and quaint. My favorite item on the menu has to be Fantasia, a francese-style chicken breast topped with asparagus, mozzarella and roasted red pepper. It’s a simple dish to prepare; serve with farfalle, bow-tie pasta and you have an entree that you would be proud to serve for any occasion. Now start cooking.
Ingredients
5 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (A tray of Perdue Thin Slice breast is what I usually use)
All-purpose flour, for dredging
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup reduce sodium chicken broth
2 lemons, juiced
6 tablespoons butter divided into 3 and 3
4 Red peppers
1 bunch of asparagus
1 lb. of fresh mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Chicken Francese
Heat ½ cup of oil and 3 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high flame.
Season the chicken cutlet with salt on both sides.
Season the flour with salt and pepper too.
Dredge the cutlet in the flour
Place each cutlet in the skillet and fry till it’s slightly golden on one side then flip and do the other side. Continue until all cutlets have been fried. Set the cutlets on the side. (If you think your chicken is not cooked all the way through, don't worry it will finish cooking in the oven.)
Remove some of the excess oil from the skillet, if any.
Add 3 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and let it melt. Add 3 tablespoons of flour to the butter and mix, creating a roux. The roux should be a golden yellow color.
Add the 1/2 cup of dry wine to the roux and mix
Add the cup of chicken broth and continue to stir until you see the sauce is thickening. If the sauce is too thick you can add more chicken broth to thin it out.
At this point add the juice of the two lemons. (I would suggest you taste the sauce first before adding the second lemon. Decide on how lemony you want it to be).
For the roasted red peppers:
4 red peppers; remove the stem and seeds from each pepper and cut them in half. Place them on a broiler sheet and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast the peppers using the broiler set on your oven. Do not walk away keep an eye on the peppers they will start to char quickly. Once you see one side has been charred remove the peppers from the oven and flip them. Return to the broiler and char the other side. Once the peppers have been charred place them in a glass bowl and cover the bowl with plastic, set it aside for about 30 minutes. Remove the plastic and peel the peppers. If you are pressed for time, you can also use store bought roasted red peppers, the ones usually found in the deli.
For the asparagus:
You can either boil them or roast them. I prefer to roast mine because it’s definitely tastier, but if I am pressed for time I boil the asparagus after trimming them in a pot of salted water for about 4 minutes. After 4 minutes drain the asparagus.
For Roasting; I preheat the oven to 425. Trim the asparagus removing the woody stem. Place it on a baking sheet and drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt. Roast the asparagus for about 15 minutes.
Assemble
Heat the oven to 350 F. In a 13x9 glass dish lay the chicken on the bottom of the dish. Place 3 to 4 asparagus on top of the chicken. Place the roasted red pepper on top of the asparagus. Layer a slice of fresh mozzarella on top of the red pepper. Repeat until all chicken breast have been covered. Pour the chicken francese sauce all over the chicken. Bake the chicken in the oven until the mozzarella has melted about 20-25 minutes.
