Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Porcini and Seasonal Vegetables

Porcini mushrooms are in season!  I've never personally cooked anything with them, but figured I'd give it a shot by starting simple.  Porcini have a lot of flavor when left alone, so I simply sautéed them in local extra virgin olive oil and enjoyed the fungus in its natural savoriness.  I cooked the chicken and veggies in the same pan for this dish - partly because we only have two pans (one huge, one tiny) and partly because it helps the flavors meld together.  If you like to separate the meats from the veggies, by all means use separate pans.

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/4 t. red pepper flakes
• 2 - 3 chicken breast fillets, pounded flat
• 1 egg, beaten
• Small handful asparagus, cleaned and quartered
• 1 small round zucchini, cut in large pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, cut in large pieces
• 1 fresh porcini mushroom, sliced
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 c. white wine
• 1/2 t. butter

Directions

1. Mix together the Parmesan, flour, red pepper flakes and some freshly ground black pepper on a large plate.
2. Dredge the chicken through the cheese mix, then through the egg, then through the cheese mix again.
3. Carefully place the dredged chicken into a large sauté pan with extra virgin olive oil on medium high heat.
4. If your chicken is thin, it will cook very quickly so keep an eye on it.  When the first side browns, flip it right away.
5. Transfer the cooked chicken pieces to a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess oil.
6. Toss the veggies into the still-hot pan and sauté to the desired crunchiness.
7. While the veggies are cooking, heat a small sauté pan with some extra virgin olive oil and toss in the sliced porcini.
8. A couple minutes before you remove the veggies from the pan, squeeze some fresh lemon juice onto them and give them a good toss or two.
9. Once the veggies have been transferred out of the pan, add the wine and butter and lower the heat to medium-low.
10. Scrape the good stuff from the bottom of the pan and add the chicken.
11. The porcini shouldn't take too long to cook so they may be ready for transfer at this point.  What I did was transferred them to the chicken pan so they could soak up a bit of the wine sauce before transferring them to the serving plate.
12. Once the chicken, porcini and veggies are plated, give the plate a quick zesting with the lemon.