Chicken

Pan-fried chicken recipe with vermouth, lemon and parsley

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Enjoy poultry the Italian way with this delicious pan-fried chicken recipe. With vermouth, lemon and parsley, this dish is a delicious celebration of seasonal ingredients and sunny flavours. This recipe is fairly quick to make, but looks impressive. It’s perfect for those times when you want a delicious dinner, without having to spend hours in the kitchen.

In true Mediterranean style, you’ll need plenty of olive oil for our pan-fried chicken recipe. It’s a common myth that we shouldn’t cook with olive oil, but cooking with extra virgin olive oil can make food more nutritious. In fact, its antioxidants are so resistant to heat that they don’t break down. Instead, they end up being absorbed by the cooked food. Extra virgin olive oil can also help shield food from high heats, helping to retain some of the nutrients usually lost during the cooking process.

Chicken is full of lean protein, ideal for helping to support our muscles. Opt for high-welfare organic chicken for meat with a delicious depth of flavour. Organic farmers are encouraged to rear slower-growing breeds that are well suited to free-range farming and growth-promoting drugs are banned.

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Ingredients

  • 2 glugs of olive oil
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 lemon, half sliced into 1cm discs and other half zested
  • 2 chicken breasts, butterflied
  • 3 tsp capers, (2 tsp chopped, 1 tsp whole)
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 5-6 tbsp dry vermouth
  • 1-2 tbsp crème fraîche
  • Handful of parsley, finely chopped
  • Sea salt and black pepper

Method

  1. In a large shallow frying pan, add in the olive oil and shallots. Gently sauté for five minutes, then add in the lemon discs. Drizzle over a little honey and cook for a further five to seven minutes. The onions should be translucent and the lemons starting to caramelise (flip sides halfway through). Season with a generous pinch of salt and add in two teaspoons of chopped capers. Stir well.
  2. Remove the lemon slices temporarily if you’d like to keep them intact (for presentation purposes). Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Season with pepper and cook each side for around three minutes until browning before adding in a teaspoon of honey and the vermouth. Turn up the heat to medium-high and let the alcohol burn off (add another tablespoon or so of vermouth if it’s absorbed too quickly).
  3. Allow the chicken breasts to cook for a further five minutes (checking they’re cooked through). By then, the pan juices should be thickened. Turn off the heat for a few minutes before stirring in the crème fraîche and serving with the chopped parsley, lemon zest and caramlised lemon slices.