Brown Butter Chicken with Lemon and Pecorino
So, basically my dinner guests/test crew raved about this dish so much I had to make another batch immediately on the spot, which goes to show how delicious and how quick this chicken dish is to make. Inspired by Florence’s Trattoria Sostanza signature dish via Berkeley’s Corso restaurant (where my Bay Area-based family rave about it), the magic of this dish is in the simplicity and the quality of ingredients— of which there are only a few essential: chicken, good European-style butter (this is very important as it has a higher fat content and less moisture— Corso swears by Plugra Red Label), salt and lemon. The result is chicken breasts cooked and bathed in so much butter (like, A LOT) that they’re rendered tender, unctuous and totally luxurious.
Use the best quality chicken breasts you can find and have your butcher take the bone out of a skin-on chicken breast. As chicken breast sizes can vary greatly, a meat thermometer is highly recommended— even though the butter will keep things moist, you’ll want to make sure it doesn’t overcook. I’ve added a few of my own touches— some garlic and some thyme for an herbaceous note, and then a shower of finely grated pecorino on top.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breasts, skin-on and boneless
2 tsp kosher salt
AP flour for dredging
12 tbsp unsalted Plugra Red Label or European style butter, room temperature
Juice of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
5-6 thyme sprigs
Grated pecorino, for finishing
Flaky sea salt, for finishing
METHOD
Preheat oven to 500F and place a medium cast-iron pan in oven.
Use kitchen shears and cut off the ‘tender’ (that strip of meat that’s tenuously attached— you’ll see it) on the underside of the breast and save for another meal. Salt chicken on all sides, dredge in flour and shake off excess. When oven comes to temperature, CAREFULLY (pan will be VERY hot) add 6 tbsp butter— let melt (it will do so quickly— and then add chicken skin side down along with garlic. Place back in oven and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and place on stove over medium heat. Turn breasts over— they should be a deep golden burnished brown and add remaining butter and thyme. Cook until butter is a nutty brown color for 3-4 minutes, occasionally spooning butter over chicken, until internal temperature reaches 160F.
Serve immediately in the cast iron pan, napping breasts with butter and finishing with lemon juice, pecorino, and flaky sea salt. Serve with crusty bread to sop up all that brown butter.