This savory dish is an Italian one-pot meal of chicken breasts coated in a deeply layered Marsala wine sauce. The sauce begins with balsamic caramelized onions, then is built up with chicken, then pork belly, then cremini and shiitake mushrooms, and finally the Marsala. Preparing everything in the same pot ensures that all the flavors from each preparation step are retained and become more and more concentrated during the cooking process, creating an exquisitely flavored dish. • serves 4
Melt with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook, stirring every 5 minutes, until golden, about 20 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to coat. Continue cooking, stirring every couple minutes, until the liquid has evaporated from the pan and the onion is a deep golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove the onion from the pan and set aside.
Meanwhile, place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound to an even ½-inch thickness. In a medium shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and ½ teaspoon of the black pepper.
Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven and raise the heat to medium. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture to coat evenly. Add to the pot and cook until golden and cooked through, about 8 minutes each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the pork belly to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the mushrooms, oregano, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have shrunk slightly and have deepened in color, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala and stock and stir to incorporate the pan juices. Raise the heat to medium high and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the liquid. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
Add the chicken to the pan and simmer for an additional 2 minutes. Top with the balsamic caramelized onions, salt pork belly, and fresh parsley. Serve immediately.