Chicken Piccata with Green Beans and Orzo

• 4chicken breasts, about 600g
• 40gplain flour
• 3 tbspolive oil
• 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 200mlchicken stock
• 30 mllemon juice
• 3 tbspcapers, rinsed
• 25gcold butter, cubed
• 20 gparsley leaves, torn
• fine salt
• black pepper
• 300 gdried orzo
• 300ggreen beans, trimmed and halved
• 1 tbspextra virgin olive oil
• 1lemon, about 100 g, thinly sliced, optional (optional)

Method

1. 1Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally to make two thin pieces, then bash each one between sheets of baking paper to about 1cm thick. Season with salt and pepper and dust both sides with the flour, tapping any excess flour back into the bowl. The flour is what thickens the sauce later.
2. 2Cook the orzo in a large pan of salted boiling water for the packet time, adding the green beans for the last 4 minutes. Drain, toss with the extra virgin olive oil and keep warm.
3. 3Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the chicken in two batches for 2 to 3 minutes a side until golden and cooked through with no pink, adding the last tablespoon of oil for the second batch. Set aside on a warm plate.
4. 4Turn the heat down, add the garlic and any flour left from dusting for 1 minute, then pour in the stock and 30 ml lemon juice, scraping up the browned bits. Add the capers and optional lemon slices and bubble for 2 minutes until reduced by a third.
5. 5Take the pan off the heat and swirl in the cold butter a cube at a time until the sauce turns glossy. Return the chicken to the pan for a minute to coat, scatter with torn parsley and serve over the orzo and beans with the sauce spooned over.

Per serving

kcal

755

protein

58.9g

fibre

5.3g

carbs

69.9g

fat

25.8g