About Picata:

Piccata (picatta, pichotta : spellings) is a method of preparing food: meat is sliced, coated, sautéed and served in a sauce. The dish originated in Italy using veal (veal piccata). In the United States, the most well-known variant is chicken piccata. The recipe has a meatless adaptation using seitan (seitan piccata).
A chicken breast is butterflied or sliced along its width. It is flattened with a tenderizer between two pieces of wax paper. It is seasoned and dredged in flour before being browned in butter or olive oil. The sauce is made using the pan drippings. Lemon juice and white wine are added and reduced. Shallots or garlic can be added with capers and slices of lemon. After reduction, butter is stirred in to finish the sauce.
In the United States, it is usually served with a starch, such as pasta, polenta, or rice. In Italy, veal piccata is a secondo and would be served after the pasta (or other starch) course.





For Pasta:

Ingredients:

For the Pesto:


2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves
3 Tbsp of Pine Nuts, toasted
2 Small Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp Grated Lemon Zest
1 Tbsp of Lemon Juice
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ cup of Fresh Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano
Salt and Pepper, to taste

For the remaining ingredients:

1 lb of Linguine
Salt and Pepper
Freshly Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Method:


1) Fill a large pot with water and sprinkle in some salt, bring to a boil and add the linguine, cook according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the starchy pasta cooking water.

2) In a food processor add the basil, pine nuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper. Start pulsing everything together and slowly add the olive oil. Once you have everything combined add it to a bowl and stir in the parmigiano reggiano.

3) Add the cooked drained pasta to the same large pot and add in the pesto and the reserved cooking water. Toss everything together until it’s all combined.

4) Plate in on a large platter and sprinkle over some extra cheese and some freshly grated black pepper.

For Fish Picata:


Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 Fresh Filet of Tilapia
1 Clove of Garlic,
2 tsp of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp of Flour
2 Tbsp of Capers or to taste
1/2 Cup of White Wine
Zest and Juice of One Whole Lemon
Fresh Chopped Parsley
1 Tbsp of Butter.


Method:

1) Place the fish fillets on a large plate and season each side with salt, pepper and some of the flour. Flip it over and do the same on the other side.

2) Preheat a large non stick skillet over medium high heat, add the oil and allow it to heat up. Add the seasoned fish and cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds.

3) Add the wine, lemon zest, lemon juice and capers and cook for about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add butter and parsley. Cook just until the butter melts.

Serve immediately!