I'm not sure when I fell in love with caramelized onions - I've said that before I guess. I've never really liked onions but caramelized onions are out-of-this-world good. And I wanted to make a sauce with them for gnocchi. This sauce has it all - sauteed chicken, scrum-didly-uptious caramelized onions, mushrooms, cream, butter...I don't know how many calories it has and I don't care. So if you know, please don't tell me. ;) You can make your own gnocchi (search "Gnocchi Mario Batali" on Food Network and you'll come up with some great recipes - stick with a plain one), or you can buy it premade. I've found it at World Market, Super Target and Albertson's, so I'm pretty sure it's widely available now. I make my own and individually freeze them on cookie sheets, then keep them in a large ziplock in the freezer. You can make a huge batch, then only cook what you need at a time. This sauce isn't the most colorful (and actually, it's probably more like a ragout than a sauce), but it sure is delicious, if I do say so myself! It serves 2 but is easily multiplied to serve more. Enjoy!



P.S. I'm going to start just posting the download recipe (saves some time) - but please let me know if this doesn't work for you for some reason, and I'll resume posting the entire recipe here as well. Thanks!


The downloadable recipe!

This recipe is one of my husband's favorites. I totally understand why, since the sauce is so good! Marsala wine is a sweet wine, so sweet it's pretty impossible to drink, but when you cook it, it makes the sauce absolutely wonderful! You can most likely find it at a wine shop, but sometimes even in the grocery store. Make sure you get a good one. Also, be sure to use fresh sage. It is a must! This recipe serves four. When I make it, I use 3 half chicken breasts and leave the sauce the same, since Luke loves lots of sauce. Enjoy!

Chicken Marsala
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 heaping tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika to taste (about 1-2 t.)
8-10 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 T. fresh sage, mince
1 shallot, minced (or a slice of onion, minced)
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. Marsala wine
1/4 c. cream
1 T. butter


Heat olive oil over medium in a large skillet. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour, salt and pepper, and paprika. Cook until golden brown on each side, around 8-10 minutes per side. Remove from skillet onto a plate, and cover with foil to keep warm. Reserve skillet.

Add the mushrooms, sage, shallot and water to the skillet, cook until mushrooms are tender, around 3-5 minutes. Add the Marsala wine and cream and cook over medium-high heat, until sauce has reduced to desired thickness. When thickened, add butter and remove from heat. Plate the chicken and spoon sauce over.