Tags
cherry tomatoes, chicken breasts, chicken paillard, clove of garlic, crusty french bread, white wine sauce
Chicken Paillard with Tomatoes and Capers
It was date night at home tonight. And all I had was some chicken….not that exciting. But we love a nice caper and white wine sauce so with a little love these simple chicken breasts turned out to be a lovely meal. The paring of tomatoes and zucchini keeps happening at our table since they are both in season now and as we all know “what grows together goes together.” I served them with a pinot gris and steamed broccoli that I squeezed the other half the lemon over. If not for a new year’s resolutions about extra carbs and white flour, a crusty French bread would also have been on the table. This is a quick dish to prepare about 30 minutes from start to table, so it would be great on a week night.
2 chicken breasts sliced in half and pounded out
1.5 pints of cherry tomatoes
¼ cup of capers with juice
1 large onion, diced
1 large zucchini, diced
1 clove of garlic, grated or crushed
Juice of half a lemon
¼ cup of all purpose flour
1 tbsp each of oregano and basil
1-2 cups white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil
To make the paillard slice the chicken breast in half crosswise then pound out the breast with either a mallet or rolling pin. I like to put a piece of plastic wrap over the chicken when pounding to stop any splatter.
Heat a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and add the cherry tomatoes, let them cook for about 5 minutes then add the onions and garlic. Allow to cook until about half the tomatoes have burst.
While waiting on the tomatoes dredge the chicken in the all purpose flour flavored with salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. In a separate hot pan with olive oil sauté the chicken pieces one at a time. Once you place the piece of chicken in the pan allow it to brown fully on one side and come loose from the bottom of the pan before you flip it over and brown the other side. Set each cooked piece aside to stay warm.
Once half the tomatoes have burst add the capers and a half cup of white wine. Stir the tomatoes as needed so it will not stick. When the last piece of chicken is put in its pan add the zucchini and lemon juice to the tomatoes. Keep adding wine to the tomatoes as needed to maintain a sauce like consistency.
After the last piece of chicken is cooked in its pan add a cup of wine and big scoop of the tomato mixture and deglaze the chicken pan with it. 
Once all the bits are free from the bottom of the chicken pan pour the liquid into the tomato mixture. Cook down until the proper consistency is reached. Take the cooked chicken breasts and give them a toss in the tomato sauce while still on the heat to allow the crust on the chicken to absorb some of the sauce before you plate.
Cook Better Than Most Restaurants 
This is a delicious & very easy meal to make. The recipe was easy to follow & it took around 30 minutes from start to finish. The only adaptation I would make in future would be to substitute the zucchini for another vegetable, maybe spinach, or french beans or even just add more tomatoes & leave it out altogether. Thanks for sharing the recipe, everyone loved it so I will definitely make it again.
Marie, great minds think alike I add asparagus or spinach to this dish all the time in place of or along side the zucchini. I have also had great success with mushrooms. If your family really loves spinach try serving the whole dish over a bed of seasoned baby spinach the residual heat in the meat and tomatoes will cook the spinach perfectly. Enjoy!!