Chicken Gnocchi and Caper Butter Sauce
This delicious Chicken, Gnocchi and Caper Butter Sauce is an impressive dish to serve for company or for a romantic dinner with your honey. Or with the kids on a Wednesday night! It’s not challenging even though it looks like it is.
Honey-seared chicken breasts are smothered in a caper bechamel sauce that’s loaded up with dreamy gnocchi. Is your mouth watering yet? Keep reading to learn how to make this!
Begin by cutting each chicken breast into 3 portions. Then sear the breasts for a few minutes. Add the honey and baste, like Chef Ramsay, until the top; surface of each side is browned. Cover the skillet with foil and place in the oven to stay warm while you prepare the bechamel.
For the Bechamel, make a roux by melting the butter and adding the flour. Stir until the flour cooks in and starts to color, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the milk.
Return the saucepan to the heat and whisk until it starts to thicken. Add the salt and nutmeg, followed by the chicken stock, parmesan cheese, capers, and spices. Keep sauce warm over low heat while preparing the gnocchi.
Fill a pot with water, and once it’s boiling, add the gnocchi and cook according to package instructions.
While the gnocchi is cooking, remove the skillet with the chicken from the oven and let it sit.
Transfer half of the Bechamel to a medium saucepan, drain the gnocchi and add it to the saucepan with the Bechamel. Stir gently to combine. You can add some more bechamel if you like, along with the sage.
Transfer the gnocchi with sauce to a platter and place the chicken pieces on top. Dollop any additional Bechamel over the top of the chicken and sit down for your feast!
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Chicken Gnocchi and Caper Butter Sauce
Makes: 2 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (8 ounces each)
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 & 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp honey
For the Bechamel:
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 5 tbsp chicken stock
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- Up to 2 tbsp capers
- 1/8 tsp English mustard powder
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp ground white pepper
- Pinch smoked paprika
For the Gnocchi:
- 1 (250-gram) pack of gnocchi
- 4-5 finely chopped sage leaves
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, make the chicken. Slice each chicken breast into 3 large pieces and season all over with salt and pepper. Add oil to a medium, heavy-bottomed, oven-safe skillet over medium heat, and tilt to coat. Once oil is hot and shimmering, after about 1 minute, add butter and let it melt until it foams. Add chicken and sauté, turning often, until top surface of each side cooks and no pink remains, 3-4 minutes.
Add honey and continue cooking, spooning liquid in pan over chicken continuously, until surface is golden, about 2 minutes. Cover pan with foil and transfer to oven to let chicken cook through and stay warm while you make the bechamel and gnocchi.
To make the bechamel, melt butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium heat, . Reduce heat to low, add flour and cook, stirring continuously, until it’s picked up some color, 1-2 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and when bubbling has subsided, whisk in milk until combined.
Return pan to stove over medium heat, and continue to whisk, scraping up sauce from bottom of pan. As sauce starts to thicken, after 1-2 minutes, whisk in salt and nutmeg. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken stock, followed by Parmesan, capers, mustard powder, garlic powder, white pepper and smoked paprika. Gently keep sauce warm while preparing gnocchi. (You don’t want it to reduce further.
Once water is boiling, add gnocchi and cook according to instructions on package. While gnocchi cooks, remove skillet from oven and let sit. Transfer half the bechamel to a medium saucepan. Drain gnocchi, add it to medium saucepan with the bechamel and stir gently to combine. Stir in as much remaining bechamel as you’d like on your gnocchi. Add sage and stir again to combine. Transfer gnocchi to a bowl and place warm chicken on top. If there’s any bechamel left, spoon some over chicken to serve, if you’d like.
Recipe by Wall Street Journal
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