Almost Italian

Verdicchio Grapes

By the 1980’s and early ’90’s, neighborhood Italian restaurants found that their patrons, many of whom had ventured into uptown oases of northern Italian cuisine, were seeking lighter fare. Dishes swimming in the traditional red sauce began to face stiff competition from combinations like Chicken with Ziti and Broccoli—a dish with Neapolitan antecedents. It was during this time that Italian-American chefs began to exploit the possibilities of skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Frequently substituted for veal scallopini, the uniform breasts were already portion-sized and far less expensive than veal.

Both the economy and neutral taste of the mass-marketed chicken breasts allowed them to become a sort of blank canvas on which both home cooks and restaurant chefs sought to create their masterpieces, those “signature” dishes. New names sprang up on menus, in local newspaper food columns, on the back of boxes of pasta… Pollo al Limone, chicken with white wine and lemon juice, could take on myriad new identities with the addition of mushrooms or sun-dried tomatoes or artichoke hearts… And if you were gilding the lily and wanted to use all three luxury ingredients and a little white wine? Eccolo! Chicken Verdicchio!

In the case of naming this preparation, we can’t help wondering if someone simply thought “Verdicchio” sounded appropriately mellifluous and sophisticated or if Verdicchio happened to be the only white wine a particular chef had on hand when all the ingredients first came together.

Would Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, or Trebbiano serve as well here? We think so, but since this varietal grape gave the recipe its name, we’ll let Verdicchio stand.

Ingredients:

4 Boneless chicken breasts
1 Cup flour
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Lb. White mushrooms, sliced
½ Cup sun-dried tomatoes (see Note)
1 9 Oz. package frozen artichokes, thawed and halved
1 Cup Verdicchio (or other dry white wine)
Juice of 1 lemon
4 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped

Preparation:

Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them with a meat mallet or a rolling pin until they’ve reached a uniform thickness of approximately 3/8 inch. Season the breasts on both sides with salt and pepper, and reserve on a plate.

Pour the flour into a shallow-sided dish and season with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken breasts, shaking off the excess, and reserve.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add the olive oil. Cook the chicken breasts for approximately 2 minutes per side, or until the edges have begun to turn white. Remove from the pan and reserve on a plate, covering them loosely with aluminum foil.

Add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichokes to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté until the mushrooms have begun to release some of their liquid, about 5 minutes.

Raise the heat to high, and add the wine. Boil for 1 – 2 minutes to evaporate the alcohol.

Add the lemon juice, lower the heat to medium low, return the chicken breasts to the pan, and simmer for 10 minutes.

To Serve:

Place one chicken breast on each of four dinner plates, spoon some of the sauce over each breast, and garnish with the chopped parsley. Most of the neighborhood restaurants of the day would have served Chicken Verdicchio over linguine.

Serves four.