Lemon-caper chicken, zucchini orzo underneath
The topping is built in the chicken's own pan, which is where the flavor was.
At a Glance
Story
A chicken breast is not one thickness, it is a wedge, and cooked as it comes the tapered end is dry several minutes before the thick end is safe. Lay a hand flat on top and press it out to an even depth before it goes in the pan, or split the thick half horizontally. Either way it cooks in one timing instead of two, which is the difference between juicy and merely cooked.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 4 oz orzo
- 1 zucchinihalved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlicroughly chopped
- 1 tbsp capersroughly chopped
- 1 ½ tsp Calabrian chile paste
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp mascarpone
- ¼ cup Parmesangrated
- 1 lemonquartered and deseeded
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
Three pans running at once, which sounds worse than it is. The chicken pan does double duty and is the only one that matters.
- Medium pot of salted water on to boil. Slice the zucchini, chop the garlic and capers, quarter the lemon.
- Orzo into the water, 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Drain, return to the pot, cover.
- Meanwhile, oil in a medium nonstick pan over medium-high. The zucchini in one layer, undisturbed, 2 to 3 minutes, until it browns. Add the chile paste, season, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Onto a plate, covered. Wipe the pan.
- Pat the chicken dry, season both sides with salt, pepper and the Italian seasoning. Oil in the same pan, medium-high, 6 to 9 minutes a side, until browned and 165°F. Onto a board to rest, and leave every scrap of fond where it is.
- Straight into that pan, a little more oil, the capers and garlic, 30 seconds to a minute. Off the heat, the juice of two lemon wedges, and scrape the base as it hisses.
- Zucchini, mascarpone and the juice of the remaining wedges into the orzo. Stir, taste, season. Slice the chicken across, sit it on top, spoon over the caper topping and finish with Parmesan.
If the fond is very dark, take the pan off the heat before the garlic goes in. It will keep cooking on residual heat and it does not need much.
More to cook
Crisp rice cakes and sausage in a ketchup glaze
Rice cakes fried until they crackle, then lacquered in ketchup and miso with the sausage.
A full course of Italian penicillin
Chicken soup's glamorous Italian cousin, with a spicy crumb and a cold lemon dollop.
Harissa shrimp broiled over a tray of greens
The greens go in first with half a cup of water, and the shrimp only arrive once the broiler takes over.
Salt and pepper dumplings straight from the freezer
Frozen potstickers and green beans, tossed at the last second in salt, sugar and more black pepper than seems wise.
Garlic noodles the way San Francisco does them
Two heads of garlic, plenty of butter and three bottles from the cupboard, done in the time it takes to boil the pasta.
Shrimp over creamed corn, and rather a lot of feta
Corn simmered soft in cream and butter, then blitzed until chunky and used the way you would use grits.
Creamy lemon spaghetti with a Sichuan pepper buzz
Crème fraîche, miso and lemon make the sauce, and toasted Sichuan peppercorns go in twice so your lips hum.
Chicken sausage and lemon, baked as a lasagna
A lasagna that went on holiday and came back with a tan and a lemon habit.
Pumpkin pasta with sausage and crisp sage
Tinned pumpkin, Gruyère and a sheet pan to crisp the lot.
Sausage lasagna spread thin for the crust
Lasagna with no layers, baked flat on a sheet pan, and an insult to nonnas everywhere.
Vodka rigatoni, baked till the tops crackle
Vodka sauce given a sheet pan, a jar of Calabrian chilis and a honey drizzle it did nothing to deserve.
Charred corn and halloumi panzanella with chili crisp
One bowl, mostly made in the morning, so the cook can sit down with the guests.
Chicken and zucchini meatballs under a feta sauce
Half the meatball is grated zucchini, which is the only reason a chicken meatball has any business being this juicy.
Dan dan noodles, served cold on purpose
The sesame and chile sauce is bossy enough to work as a dressing, so the noodles never need to be hot.
Zucchini parmesan, roasted not fried
All the comfort of the fried original, a fraction of the oil, and no pan spitting at you.