Picatta is like an instant fancy dinner. One second you’re just sitting there, all normal like, but the instant that first forkful of lemony wine bliss touches your tongue you’re transported to candlelight and tablecloths, even if you’re sitting in front of the TV watching Dancing With The Stars. This version is made with chickpeas which make it superfast, and it’s served over arugula for some green. I know lots of people are accustomed to picatta with pasta, and that is the Italian tradition, but my first picatta was as a vegan and we vegans loved our mashed potatoes, so that is what I suggest serving it with. If you’d like to bulk it up even further, try a grilled or roasted portobello. Nutritional info is listed down below.
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 scant cup thinly sliced shallots
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
A few dashes fresh black pepper
Generous pinch of dried thyme
1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup capers with a little brine
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 cups arugula
Cooking spray
Preheat a large heavy bottomed pan over medium. Saute the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes, until golden. Add the breadcrumbs and toast them by stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. They should turn a few shades darker.
Add the vegetable broth and wine, salt, black pepper and thyme. Turn up heat and bring to a rolling boil and let the sauce reduce by 1/2, it should take about 7 minutes.
Add the chickpeas and capers to heat through, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon and turn off the heat.
If serving with mashed potatoes, place the arugula in a wide bowl. Place mashed potatoes on top, and ladle picatta over the potatoes. The arugula will wilt and it will be lovely. If you are serving solo, just pour right over the arugula.
Servings per recipe-4
Calories-190
Cal from fat-30
Total fat-3.5g
Saturated fat-0g
Trans fat-0g
Fiber-5g
Protein-9g
Cholesterol- 0mg
Niacin-730mg
Vitamin A-20%
Vitamin C-25%
Calcium-10%
its a keeper
I made this recipe this week for me and my hubby ( omni all the way!). I loved it and so did he! I cannot wait for this book!
So good, quick, easy, healthy, and gone.
My husband and I made this last night as a Thanksgiving test and OHMYGOSH. Incredible…I don’t think I have ever eaten anything as good. It helps that my husband is the best mashed potato maker in the whole world. 🙂 I started whining like my children when I saw the cookbook release date isn’t until December. “I don’t WANT to wait until December…I WAAAAANNNNTTT it NOOOOOOOW!!”
🙂
I made this on Sunday night for dinner and I really felt like an honest-to-goodness grownup. It was so delicious and pretty easy to make, and as I made it just for two, we’ve already had a few meals out of it. Thank you! I’d venture to say that I am Isa’s number one fan 🙂 Three cheers!
Soo good! Thanks!
Made this dish Monday night for my omnivorous fiancé and vegan me, and we both agree it was exceptional! Very rich, flavorful, and it stayed warm nicely. This was my first time making a white wine reduction, and I may have let it reduce too far, but it worked out fine nonetheless. The arugula is a nice pairing. The fiancé wanted his over penne, which I cooked on the side and added to the reduced and simmering sauce over the heat to warm. I shy away from white potatoes because their glycemic index is high, and instead had mine over creamy-thick brown rice.
Do all the recipes in Appetite for Reduction come with nutritional info?
This recipe is delicious!
Made this last night! So wonderfully delicious! Can not wait for the book to come out (Asked for it for Christmas)!!! Making the onion rings this weekend and the black-eyed peas tomorrow. YUM!! Thanks for sharing a few recipes early!
i’ve made this THREE TIME since getting the book. it’s so easy and i found it’s even really tasty if i’m out of capers or greens to set it on. i even like it cold on toast for breakfast!
made this for the first time tonight, it is seriously delicious and will be part of my permanent collection. bravo isa chandra :bows:
melissa
This rocked my world, and it was so freakin’ easy to put together. Thankies!
This is absolutely divine. I added baby bella mushroooms. Excellent
Salt is mentioned in the recipe instructions, but not in the recipe itself. How much salt should we add? I’m guessing one teaspoon.
Whoops, yeah, just salt to taste since broth varies so much and there are capers.
Oops, I meant to say salt is missing from the ingredient list. No matter – I just made it and it seems salty enough from the capers and vegetable broth.
I’m making this for dinner tonight!
Isa, I want to try this recipe but I hate the taste of wine! Can you recommend something else to add which will add flavor and depth but not taste like wine? Thanks!
Try veggie broth with a few splashes of balsamic vinegar (1 to 2 tablespoons).
Thanks! Will try tonight!
Just made this last night for valentines dinner and it was a hit! I thickened the sauce with a corn starch slurry but other than that I followed it exactly and we fought over the leftovers for lunch. Thanks again!
Made this last night and served over mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes. It was awesome! Only downside is that we finished the whole thing… no leftovers. Next time I’m so doubling it!
I made this last night with mashed potatoes it’s sooooooo delicious!!!! Was really easy to make, even after a long day at work so this is a recipe I will be making regularly 🙂
Thanks for another amazing recipe!!
I made this tonight with the mashed potatoes and it was fantastic! I only had a 25 oz. can of chickpeas so I just threw them all in. I was a bit nervous because I usually find canned chickpeas to be stiff and gross in recipes that call for just warming them, but they taste so good in this! I love the fancy reduced sauce that is so thick and flavorful and so easy to make.
Yum yum….. So fast and easy… I know what to do with my left over mash from now on. Added fresh basil and parsley which enhanced the lemony goodness just perfectly.
Sounds yummie. I am trying that one tonight.
Could you specify what you mean by “breadcrumbs” (sorry, non-native speaker)? Just pure ground bread (if yes: how fine?) or ground bread mixed with flour? Thanks 🙂
So good, and even BETTER the next day!!!!!!
I love this recipe! It’s so tasty and so easy to prepare. I always make a double batch and eat it for lunch throughout the week. My coworkers are jealous. 🙂
Isa – I would like to download your new book on my ipad – do you have plans to enable this? Thank you for this book!!!!
I bought this book recently and have been cooking my way through. Everything’s been coming out great, and I’m so psyched to keep plugging away at it. Just before I began cooking from this book, i cooked through vegan brunch, and while it was completely delicious, it is now a nice relief from some of the heavier recipes I’d been preparing. I can’t believe how many recipes there are! Definitely keeping me a busy and not bored vegan! I owe it all to you, Isa!
This recipe sounds really amazing, I will make it for dinner.
Just one little (know it all 😉 ) comment from a european fan living really close to Italy: Why do you call this a piccata (that’s how it’s spelt ;-)). Piccata is nothing else but a very thin smallish veal “schnitzel”. Or is it the bread crumbs which make it a piccata for you? (Although I was also very suprised to learn that in America “spaghetti marinara” is not spaghetti with a lot of seafood but “spaghetti napoli” or just tomato sauce: different culture, different term) [/OT] 😉
Oh I didn’t even know that! Here the breadcrumb/caper/lemon/wine sauce makes the piccata.
Doesn’t matter: it tastes incredible! I had to try it yesterday and ate for two, oops. Thanks for the perfect recipe.
Looks good. I’d love it if you could also add total carb count to the nutrition info.
this looks superb and I wanna try it, but I can’t have garlic what would be a good substitute to add flavor or would it be just fine without it?
Wow… I think this must be the most delicious thing I have tasted this year. Really, really great.
This was the first vegan meal I have made and it was amazing!!! It’s nice to find excellent vegan recipes to help me get into the life style easier.
Wow! You always remember your first. Glad it was a success!