Two versions of piccata that are equally as glorious

A silky sauce, tangy with lemon and the salty punch of capers is a hallmark of piccata recipes in North America.

But a common misconception trails the delicious dish. “I don’t know why you Americans think it is just about that sauce,” my friend Lucia tells me by phone from Italy.

In fact, in Italian, a piccata is a thin piece of meat, pounded flat, according to several sources, including The Food Lover’s Companion and The Dictionary of Italian Wine and Food. In countless cookbooks, it is used interchangeably with the term scallopini; in English, today, we would call it a cutlet.

In the 2005 edition of The Silver Spoon, one of Italy’s best-selling cookbooks, there are two recipes for piccata: piccata al limone, which is translated as “veal scallops in lemon”, and piccata al marsala, “veal scallops with marsala”, neither of which contains capers.

A 1955 menu from Casina Delle Rose and Lucciola – a once-glamorous restaurant and banquet hall that is now Rome’s Casa del Cinema – lists piccata di vitello al pomodora (veal cutlets in tomato sauce) for 800 lira.

What Americans today think of as piccata, with a creamy pan sauce, bright with lemon and pungent with capers, is more of an Italian-American riff on that pounded Italian cutlet.

A wonderfully quick, surprisingly easy riff that can be made with almost any protein or vegetable.

Here’s how it goes: small, thin cutlets – below, I suggest boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced in half horizontally or large trumpet mushrooms cut into thick slabs – are coated in mustard and lemon zest, dunked in flour and pan-fried until deep golden brown all around. Remove them from the pan, then make a pan sauce by adding some liquid (white wine, stock and/or water) and letting it reduce while you scrape up any browned bits. Whisk in some butter, lemon juice, capers (roughly chopped, if you’d like) and chopped parsley. Spoon the sauce over the chicken or mushrooms and serve.

Instead of the chicken or mushrooms, you could try this method with:

- Swordfish

- Fillets of sole or other tender white fish

- Scallops

- Liver

- Thick rounds of aubergine, salted and patted dry

- Courgette, sliced into long planks

- Cooked and drained gigante beans (no dredging or frying needed)

Dredging meat or fish in flour protects it from overcooking and helps achieve an evenly golden brown colour all the way around. Some cooks start by dipping their cutlets or fillets in egg first; others dip the still-damp meat or fish right into the flour. I like using mustard as a coating because it’s an easy way to add flavour and plays well with the capers. The mustard coating also means you could dip the meat or mushrooms in breadcrumbs instead of flour, for a crunchier exterior.

But using flour comes with another benefit: the flour left behind in the pan caramelises, helping to both flavour and thicken the pan sauce. I like reducing the sauce until it coats the side of my spoon, but if you don’t, don’t let it reduce too much, or thin it with more lemon juice, wine or water.

Finally, I highly recommend chopping your capers before adding them to the sauce. This ensures that every bite will have a bit of their tangy, bracing acidity.

An Italian classic, piccata is an easy dish to make at home. In this version, chicken breast fillets are coated in lemony mustard, doused in flour and fried until golden. In the same pan, whisk together the tangy sauce – it takes only minutes to make. This variation can be made meatless, too, using mushrooms in place of the chicken. Serve with a side salad, mashed potatoes, pasta or risotto.

If you’re going the mushroom route, large trumpets can make fat, meaty slabs, but clusters of oyster mushrooms work well, too.

I like how quickly chicken breast cutlets cook, but feel free to try this with boneless, skinless thighs or chicken tenders. The thighs should be pounded to a near-even thickness; use care because they have a tendency to break into pieces. The tenders will take less time, so keep a close eye on them.

I love the mustard as a coating here, but many Italian recipes suggest you simply dredge the damp cutlets in flour, so skip it if you want.

All-purpose flour is the preferred piccata coating in the Italian cookbooks I’ve consulted – though your family or favourite restaurant may make it differently! Consider using breadcrumbs for a crispier crust.

No wine? Use more stock or water.

The butter adds richness and emulsifies nicely. Vegan butter or refined coconut oil could work, too.

Out of capers? Try chopped green olives or extra parsley.

Note: If you can’t find cutlets at your supermarket, make your own. Use two medium chicken breasts, about 340g total, and cut horizontally through each breast so the meat opens like a book; separate the halves. Trim away any fat or sinew.

Serve your piccata with a side salad, mashed potatoes, quinoa, pasta or risotto.

Storage notes: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days.

Total time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2 to 4

Ingredients:

1 large lemon

60g Dijon or spicy brown mustard

85g all-purpose flour (may substitute breadcrumbs, tapioca starch or chickpea flour)

4 chicken breast cutlets (about 340g total) (see note below), or 4 to 6 king oyster mushrooms (280-340g), sliced lengthwise into 2cm-thick hunks

60ml olive oil, plus more as needed

120ml dry white wine, such as pinot grigio

60ml low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

3 tbsp capers in brine, drained, chopped if desired

Fine salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley, divided

Method:

Zest the lemon into a shallow bowl and stir in the mustard. Juice the lemon (you should have at least 60ml juice; if not, juice another lemon) and set aside to use later in the sauce. Place the flour in a separate shallow bowl. Add the chicken or mushroom pieces to the bowl with the mustard mixture and, using one hand or tongs, coat the pieces evenly with the mustard. Transfer the pieces to the flour, and dredge until evenly coated.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Working in batches, if necessary, and using tongs, transfer the coated chicken or mushroom pieces to the hot oil, letting each piece fall away from you so hot oil doesn’t splatter onto you.

Fry until deep golden on the bottom, about 3 minutes; flip and fry on the other side until deep golden brown, about 3 minutes. (The chicken should register 70C on an instant-read thermometer. The mushrooms are done when they’re deep golden all the way around.) Reduce the heat to medium-low, transfer the cooked chicken or mushrooms to a plate and keep warm.

Add the wine and stock to the pan, and whisk to stir up any browned bits. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Cook until the mixture reduces by about a quarter, about 1½ minutes. Whisk in 60ml of the reserved lemon juice, followed by the butter until a smooth sauce forms, about 2 minutes. Stir in the capers. Taste, and add more lemon juice, to taste, plus salt and pepper as needed. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of the parsley.

Transfer the chicken or mushrooms to plates and top with 2 tbsp to 60ml sauce per serving. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley.

Nutrition information per serving with chicken , based on 4 | Calories: 363; total fat: 21g; saturated fat: 6g; cholesterol: 56mg; sodium: 909mg; carbohydrates: 18g; dietary fibre: 1g; sugar: 1g; protein: 17g.

Per serving with mushrooms, based on 4 | Calories: 338; total fat: 20g; saturated fat: 6g; cholesterol: 15mg; sodium: 734mg; carbohydrates: 26g; dietary fibre: 4g; sugar: 2g; protein: 7g.

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist's advice.

© The Washington Post