Sautéed Chicken Cutlets with Romesco Sauce
By The Editors of America's Test KitchenPublished on August 27, 2020
Time
55 minutes
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Chicken
4 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed1 teaspoon table salt ¼ teaspoon pepper 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, dividedSauce
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided½ slice hearty white sandwich bread, cut into ½-inch pieces¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned2 garlic cloves, sliced thin1 cup jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed and patted dry1 ½ tablespoons sherry vinegar 1 teaspoon honey ½ teaspoon smoked paprika ½ teaspoon table salt Pinch cayenne pepperBefore You Begin
You will need one 12-ounce jar of roasted red peppers for this recipe.
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts on large plate and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon oil, bread, and hazelnuts to 12-inch nonstick skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bread and hazelnuts are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer bread mixture to food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, about 5 pulses. Add red peppers, vinegar, honey, paprika, salt, cayenne, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil to processor. Pulse until finely chopped, 5 to 8 pulses. Transfer sauce to bowl and set aside for serving. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
- Working with 1 chicken breast at a time, starting at thick end, cut breasts in half horizontally. Using meat pounder, gently pound each cutlet between 2 pieces of plastic wrap to even ¼-inch thickness. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Wipe now-empty skillet clean with paper towels. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place 4 cutlets in skillet and cook, without moving them, until browned on first side, about 2 minutes. Flip cutlets and continue to cook until opaque on second side, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer cutlets to serving platter and tent with aluminum foil. Repeat with remaining 4 cutlets and remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Serve with sauce.
for the chicken
for the sauce
Time
55 minutesYield
Serves 4Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chicken
Sauce
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Looking to create a simple sauce that would add a boost of flavor and richness to quick-cooking chicken cutlets, we found inspiration in the classic Spanish sauce romesco. To keep things simple, we built our sauce with a combination of boldly flavored jarred and no-cook ingredients. Our version was a thick, coarse mixture of roasted red peppers, toasted hazelnuts, cubed bread, sherry vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, smoked paprika, and garlic that we pulsed together in the food processor. The roasted red peppers and paprika provided a sweet smokiness; the sherry vinegar gave the sauce an acidic punch; and the underpinning of nuts and bread added texture, body, and richness, bringing all the other ingredients together. A teaspoon of honey focused all the flavors. Best of all, this complexly flavored sauce could be made in about 5 minutes. Finding that most sautéed chicken cutlet recipes resulted in dry, bland, tough chicken, we were determined to produce our own recipe that would guarantee juicy, flavorful results. For even cooking, we halved chicken breasts horizontally before pounding them until they were ¼ inch thick and sprinkling them with salt and pepper. After just 2½ minutes in the skillet, the cutlets were juicy and cooked through.
Before You Begin
You will need one 12-ounce jar of roasted red peppers for this recipe.
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts on large plate and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon oil, bread, and hazelnuts to 12-inch nonstick skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bread and hazelnuts are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer bread mixture to food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, about 5 pulses. Add red peppers, vinegar, honey, paprika, salt, cayenne, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil to processor. Pulse until finely chopped, 5 to 8 pulses. Transfer sauce to bowl and set aside for serving. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
- Working with 1 chicken breast at a time, starting at thick end, cut breasts in half horizontally. Using meat pounder, gently pound each cutlet between 2 pieces of plastic wrap to even ¼-inch thickness. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Wipe now-empty skillet clean with paper towels. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place 4 cutlets in skillet and cook, without moving them, until browned on first side, about 2 minutes. Flip cutlets and continue to cook until opaque on second side, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer cutlets to serving platter and tent with aluminum foil. Repeat with remaining 4 cutlets and remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Serve with sauce.
for the chicken
for the sauce
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