The trick is to use far less marsala than most recipes call for. My first try, the recipe called for half a bottle of wine. Seriously? I got a buzz just smelling the sauce. Now that I have a solid decade of cooking with wine under my belt, I can see what a mistake that was. But you live and learn.
Ingredients:
Filling:
4 oz. Cream cheese, softened
3 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
1 tap. dried basil
2 oz. shredded mozzarella
3-4 T. parmesan
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. each oregano and fennel seed, if desired
Chicken and sauce:
3-4 T. each olive oil and butter
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 T. minced garlic
2 whole chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2 T. Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
1/4-1/3 C. Marsala wine
3/4-1 C. heavy cream
1/3 C. parmesan
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling, set aside.
Next, separate the two halves of the chicken breast, take the larger half and cut that in half at it's thickest point. Repeat for the second chicken breast. Cut a 2-3 inch slit into the thickest part of the chicken and make a pocket. Spoon prepared filling into each pocket, then season the chicken generously with Italian seasoning.
Heat oven to 375. In a large skillet or cast iron dutcD oven, add half of each olive oil and butter to pan over a medium high heat. Sear chicken over medium high heat until lightly golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan and place on a baking sheet or an uncovered ceramic dish and place in oven to finish cooking, depending on size of chicken pieces, it should take 18-25 to finish baking.
In the cast iron Dutch oven or skillet, add remaining olive oil and butter and sautee mushrooms, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. When mushrooms are almost tender, about 1-2 minutes before they finish cooking, add marsala wine. Reduce by half, turn heat to a low and slowly stir in heavy cream. Stir in parmesan, keep the heat on low to avoid curdling the sauce. Add additional parmesan to thicken the sauce as needed. Sauce is done when it coats the back of a
