Chicken Picatta Sandwich

One of my favorite Italian foods is Chicken Picatta. What makes it my favorite you ask? Capers! They add just the right amount of tangy lemony flavor that I love. When I first had them a long time ago I was afraid they would be disgusting, like olives (sorry olive lovers), but was I wrong. So very, very wrong. I decided to add a twist to the traditional chicken picatta dinner that I was going to make and try to make a slightly sophisticated chicken picatta sandwich with some sides.

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Breast (as many pieces as you want sandwiches)
2 Eggs
1 C Flour
Salt & Pepper
2 T Butter
1 1/2 C White Wine (I used White Zinfandel)
Fresh Mozzarella (Cut in slices)
Rolls or Bread (Your choice, but I used Portuguese Rolls)
Olive Oil
1 T Garlic, minced
2 T Fresh Lemon Juice
2 Zucchini
2 Summer Squash
Pasta (Your choice)

The first thing you should do is prepare the zucchini and summer squash. Simply cut the vegetables in half, cutting off the ends, and place in a large bowl with a lid. Drizzle 2 T of olive oil over the veggies and then season with salt and pepper. Cover bowl, shake, and set aside. You can choose to grill these like I did or simply roast them.
To prep chicken you should trim off fat and pound chicken a bit. Dip chicken in an egg/water mixture, then cover both sides in flour. Pour 2 to 3 T Olive Oil and minced garlic in skillet heating up until garlic starts to turn golden. Place chicken in a skillet (I used an electric skillet, a must have kitchen appliance) and cook on both sides until golden, about 4-5 minutes a side. You should boil water and cook pasta once the chicken starts cooking.
While the chicken is cooking you can prepare the lemon caper spread.
Ingredients & Directions:

Lemon Caper Spread
(adapted from here)

1 C Mayonnaise
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
2 T minced shallot
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T drained capers

Mix first 6 ingredients in processor until pale green and well blended. Transfer to small bowl. Stir in capers. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)
Once chicken is finished cooking set aside on a plate covered in a paper towel to soak up some of the olive oil. While chicken is set aside scrape up all the extra bits left in the skillet, leaving oil. Pour wine in skillet, lemon juice, and then butter. Stir until butter is melted and liquid starts to boil a little. Place chicken back in lemon wine sauce. Cook on one side for a minute and then other side for another minute.

Once chicken is completed you can make your sandwich. The lemon caper spread should go on top of bread, add lettuce, and freshly sliced mozzarella. You could always add other ingredients to spice up the sandwich if you'd like, but this is as close to a traditional chicken picatta as possible, in sandwich formation.

I served the sandwich with the grilled veggies and pasta. Not until seeing the pictures I realized that this meal was pretty, but colorless. I am usually cautious about making sure the meal has a wide variety of colors. Next time I will be sure to adding maybe grilled red peppers. What might you add to this meal/sandwich?

The one thing I am definitely going to do is make some of the lemon caper spread and leave it in my refrigerator so I can have it anytime I want.