Chicken Marengo

Every once in a while, a good story is behind a good recipe.  " Marengo is a city south of Turin in the Piedmont region of Italy; it was there that Napoleon defeated the Austrians in 1800. Not in the habit of eating before a battle, he was starving after the victory and commanded his chef, Dumand, to whip something up. Desperate for ingredients, he sent foragers out to search for food and what materialized was a scrawny chicken, a few crayfish, a handful of tomatoes, some eggs, garlic, and a frying pan. Dumand got to work. What he created left Napoleon begging for more, and he ordered that after each battle, this dish must be served." What has since evolved into Chicken Marengo follows.....at least my version of it!

CHICKEN MARENGO

Makes 4 Servings

I did NOT do the P+ for this.

3 boneless/skinless chicken cutlets, pounded to an even thickness and cut into bite-size pieces
Salt & pepper to taste
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 TBSP canola oil
1 medium sweet onion, sliced
½ pound mushrooms, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded & julienned
2 TBSP tomato paste
½ cup white wine
½ cup low sodium beef broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
½ TBSP light butter

Season the chicken with salt & pepper; dredge in flour.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken. Saute' until a light golden color. Remove from the skillet to a plate; set aside.

In the same pan, add the onion, mushrooms and peppers and saute' until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

Stir in the tomato paste and cook for @2 minutes.

Turn up the heat and add the wine. Let it reduce for @3 minutes.

Add the beef broth and diced tomatoes. Once this begins to bubble, add the chicken and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook @3 minutes or until the chicken is heated through.

Turn off the heat and stir in the butter.

Serve immediately.

MY SPIN: I would serve this over either egg noodles or linguine. We ate so late last night that we opted to skip that part.  I didn't figure up the P+ on this recipe because it would depend on how many pieces of chicken you ate and/or if you served it over pasta and how much of that you ate. Every once in a while it's nice to 'throw caution to the wind' and just eat enough of something to be satisfied.

Later!

Loving Life!
Jan