Chicken Marsala
Chicken Marsala is a classic Italian-American dish that emerged during the early 19th century
Salvatore Musso, a Sicilian wine broker, played a crucial role in introducing this delightful meal to the United States in the late 1800s
The dish combines the richness of Italian culinary traditions with a touch of French influence.
Today I was pondering what to cook with my leftover chicken I bought the day before at Costco. I have eating Chicken Marsala at several Italian restaurants in America, and it’s one of my favorites. I was curious, why I have never seen this dish on an Italian menu while there
Marsala Cooking Wine can be bought HERE on Amazon
While doing my research about Chicken Marsala, I was happy to find out where this dish originated:
Marsala is a city in the province of Trapani, in Sicily, home to this type of wine. This wine is known for its deep, intense flavor, and the locals in Sicily drink the sweet Marsala with desserts and pastries. The dry version of Marsala goes well with meat or fish.
Chicken Marsala today has a combination of influences and it is hard to pinpoint to a single origin. Foodies however believe that the dish bears a strong French influence, partly because of Napoleon’s troop invasion into Italy.
In the United States the dish is the result of Italian immigrants trying to re-create a traditional dish with the ingredients they had available at their new country. That’s why Chicken Marsala is far more popular in America than in Italy.
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients
- 2 cooked skinless chicken breast, sliced (I used Rotisserie chicken breast w/o skin)
- 1/2 onion
- 2 cups Mushroom slices (Baby Bella or champignons)
- 2 to 3 cups chicken broth (or hot water with bouillon cube)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup
- Dash of salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup Marsala cooking wine
- 1/2 pounds pasta of your choice
Marsala Cooking Wine can be bought HERE on Amazon
Instructions
- Slice the breast of a Rotisserie chicken, put to the side.
- Fry a half cubed onion, some parsley and sliced Mushrooms in pan. Remove.
- Make a Roux:
- In the same pan place 1 tbsp butter, let melt and then add 2 tbsp white flour, stir vigorously on medium hot for 1 min. Add 2 cups of broth or hot water with chicken bouillon cube.
- Heat on high and whisk until no clumps remain.
- Season with salt and pepper, maybe some lemon juice.
- Add the sliced Rotisserie chicken breast to the pan with the mushrooms and onions.
- Heat thoroughly for 2 min, then remove pan.
- Add 1/2 cup of Marsala (cooking) wine.
- Penne, Spaghetti or pasta of your choice.
Notes
Serve with Pasta of your choice. I prefer Penne, but is also served with Spaghetti in Italian restaurants
