Squeaky's blog about what we wished we were eating right now got me thinking about one of my favorite meals EVER - the Chicken Sorrento with Spaghetti Marinara at Ralph's Italian Restaurant in South Philly. Ralph's is the oldest family-owned Italian restaurant in the US and they serve very old-school, traditional food.

Luckily they post recipes on their website. The recipe below is for 4 servings, but I usually half it. Two chicken breasts per person is ridiculous. In fact, when the BF and I go to Ralph's, we just split one order! The chicken is SWIMMING in cheesy creamy wine sauce. Drool

On the side of the chicken, serve spaghetti with the marinara sauce. I recommend mixing a bit of the cheesy chicken sauce with the marinara and then dipping really good, crusty, Italian bread in there. My boyfriend always drinks Chianti with this meal but I don't because I'm allergic to red wine. Sad

CHICKEN SORRENTO

8 boneless chicken breasts
3 cups flour
2 cups vegetable oil
½ lb. butter
3 tablespoons roux (recipe below)
½ cup sherry wine
24 slices mozzarella (sliced thin)

Dredge chicken breast in flour, sauté chicken breasts in oil, 3 minutes on each side. Drain oil. Add Butter, roux and wine. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, at this point layer 3 pieces of mozzarella On each chicken breast and put pan in broiler until cheese is melted (about 1 minute). Serve 2 chicken breast on each plate. Put pan back on stove Bring to a boil; whip sauce and spoon on chicken. Serves 4 to 6

MARINARA SAUCE

3 28 oz. cans tomatos (crush by hand)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large spanish onion (chopped)
6 to 8 large garlic cloves (minced)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup fresh parsley (chopped)
½ cup fresh basil (chopped) or 1 teaspoon dry
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano

Sauté onions and garlic with 1 cup olive oil in 4 qt sauce pan when onions and garlic are a golden color add tomato's, basil, salt, black pepper, oregano, fresh parsley and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer for 1 hour, stirring constantly.

BASIC ROUX

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cooking oil

Directions:

Heat oil in heavy pot or Dutch Oven. When oil is hot, gradually add flour, stirring constantly until well mixed. Lower flame and continue stirring until chocolate brown. When roux is chocolate brown, removed from pot and set aside. If roux remains in the pot it will continue to cook and get too dark.


Ralph's publishes a cookbook as well. To purhase it, visit http://www.ralphsrestaurant.com/