Chicken Marsala with Pancetta and Cream

1. Stage

Cook the pancetta: Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the diced pancetta and cook until lightly browned and crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pancetta, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.

2. Stage

Cook the onions or shallots: Add the onions or shallots and cook until translucent and lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes for onions. If using shallots, lower the heat to medium and cook a minute or two. Remove the onions from the pan, leaving any remaining fat in the pan. Add the onions to the cooked pancetta and set aside.

3. Stage

Prepare the chicken for dredging: Put flour on a shallow plate for dredging. Pat the chicken cutlets dry with a paper towel and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the skillet on medium high heat. You should have about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan from the pancetta, if not add more olive oil to the pan.

4. Stage

Dredge and cook the chicken: When the fat in the pan is hot (test it to make sure by sprinkling a tiny bit of flour in the pan, it should sizzle), dredge a chicken cutlet in the flour on both sides, shake off the excess and place in the hot pan. Continue with as many cutlets as can fit in the pan without crowding. Sauté until just browned, on both sides. It should only take a minute or two. Cook all of the cutlets in the same way, adding more olive oil to the pan if necessary. Remove the cooked cutlets to a plate.

5. Stage

Make the sauce: Pour off any excess fat. Add the marsala to the hot pan to deglaze it , scraping up any browned bits. Let the marsala boil away until it reduces by a quarter or a half and stir in the cream. Let boil until the sauce thickens.

6. Stage

Coat the chicken cutlets in sauce: Return the chicken cutlets, the pancetta, and onions to the pan and turn to coat with the creamy Marsala sauce. Reheat for 1/2 a minute. Serve the cutlets with the sauce and a little freshly chopped parsley.