Chicken Scallopini

In The Oprah Magazine Cookbook, I also spotted an intriguing recipe for chicken scallopini. I liked the idea of adding fresh basil and (whole pine) nuts in the crust. I made the recipe for my mom when she was over for Thanksgiving. I replaced the pine nuts with pecans. Unfortunately, I had problems with the chunks of pecans sticking to the crust so my mom suggested I process the mixture. I followed my mom's suggestion with great success!


I had the chicken with broccoli stir-fried with garlic.

Chicken Scallopini - Serves 2
Adapted from The Oprah Magazine Cookbook - I don't know which chef created this recipe since my laptop is dead and I had the information in there...
I split a chicken breast and got two portions out of it, but you can definitely serve one chicken breast per serving. You can also replace the chicken with turkey or veal. I would make the breadcrumb mixture coarser to have large pieces of pecan showing. Quantities are very approximate.

* 1 chicken breast, sliced into two lengthwise
* salt and pepper, to taste
* garlic powder
* 2-3 tbsp flour
* 1 egg, beaten
* 3-4 tbsp breadcrumbs - I used panko
* 4-5 fresh basil leaves
* 1 tbsp Parmesan
* 1 tsp lemon zest
* 4-5 pecans
* ground pepper
* oil

Pound the chicken breast with a mallet until very thin (1/2").
Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder on each side.
Place the flour in one dish.
Add the beaten egg in a second dish.
In a food processor, add the breadcrumbs, basil, parmesan, lemon zest, pecan and ground pepper.
Process slightly to obtain a coarse mixture.
Place the breadcrumb mixture in a third dish.
Heat oil in a pan.
Dredge the chicken breast in the flour first, then the egg and finally the breadcrumb mixture.
Cook in the oil, 2-3 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through (the cooking time depends on the thickness of your chicken breast).
Tada!


The breadcrumb mixture.


I like the bits of green from the fresh basil.