Simple Weeknight Chicken Lombardy Recipe

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Chicken Lombardy shares its name with the Northern Italian region that brought us the world's oldest commercially available cheese. (Luckily, Bitto Storico isn't called for in the recipe, since it's also one of the world's rarest.) Where this cheesy chicken Marsala variant originated, however, is a mystery, although it's most likely an American dish, or at least some fusion of Italian-American cuisine rather than strictly an Italian one, despite its namesake. Regardless of where chicken Lombardy came from, however, there's no denying that it's one cheesy chicken dish that's worth trying.

Recipe developer Katie Rosenhouse points out that great taste isn't the only thing her recipe has going for it. As she tells us, "Chicken Lombardy is super easy and quick to throw together, with so much depth and umami." In her opinion, the dish, which seems to have been around since sometime in the 20th century, may be a bit old-fashioned, but she feels, "It definitely deserves to make a comeback as a weeknight staple that's totally family-friendly." (Yes, even with wine in the sauce, since the Marsala cooks off, and it can always be swapped out for a non-alcoholic substitute.)

The chicken breasts in this recipe are seasoned with salt and pepper, then dredged in flour and fried in butter and olive oil. After this, they're topped with a sauce made from cremini mushrooms, garlic, chicken stock, and Marsala wine before being smothered with mozzarella and Parmesan.

Thinly slice the mushrooms. Set aside.

Season chicken on both sides with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and the black pepper.

Dredge chicken breasts in flour to coat.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add chicken and cook until browned on the first side, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Flip and cook the other side of the chicken, another 3 to 4 minutes (the chicken will not be cooked through).

Transfer chicken to a 10-inch baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, mushrooms, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt to the skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.

Add stock and wine. Cook until liquid is reduced by half.

Pour hot mushroom sauce over the chicken.

Top evenly with Parmesan cheese then mozzarella cheese.

Bake until cheese is melted and the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 F.

Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

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One change you might want to make to this recipe, especially if there are children or teetotalers in the household, is to eliminate the alcohol in the sauce. White grape juice mixed with a little sherry vinegar and some vanilla extract makes a great substitute for Marsala wine, as does chicken broth with cider vinegar. If alcohol isn't an issue but you simply don't have Marsala on hand, try using white wine or sherry instead.

Other substitutions that won't harm the recipe one bit include using a different type of mushroom instead of cremini or using boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts. The cheese, too, can be changed out — feel free to swap Fontina for mozzarella or pecorino Romano for Parmesan.

If you want more vegetables in the dish, toss some sauteed spinach, kale, or sun-dried tomatoes into the sauce. If the temperature's too hot to turn on the oven, skip steps 13 and 15. Instead, put the chicken in the pan with the sauce, top it with cheese, and cover it. Cook it on the stovetop until the cheese melts and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.

Even though this chicken Lombardy recipe takes just half an hour to prepare, you can still speed up the process with a few tweaks. For one thing, if you're planning to make it for dinner but have a few spare moments in the morning, you could make the mushroom sauce in advance, or at least clean and chop the mushrooms. The parsley, too, can be pre-chopped if you're planning on using it as a garnish, and you can go ahead and season and flour the chicken cutlets so they'll be all ready for the frying pan.

Of course, you can always just cook the entire dish on the weekend for meal prep purposes. It should last for up to four days in the refrigerator, and for quite a while longer in the freezer. To reheat it, cover the pan with foil and bake it at 350 F until it warms up. (This will, of course, take longer if it's still frozen when it goes into the oven.) For quicker reheating, you could also divide the chicken Lombardy into individual portions and zap each one in the microwave for a minute or so.

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