Preparation

• 1
  Remove any skin from the chicken breasts and flatten them slightly between clingfilm with the end of a rolling pin to even out the thickness. If you have very large pieces of chicken, you may wish to butterfly them and open them out when cooking.
• 2
  Peel and finely chop the shallot and the garlic. Drain, rinse and roughly chop the capers.
• 3
  Melt 15g of butter with the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat, and then cook the chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until they are completely cooked through and golden brown. Remove, cover and keep warm.
• 4
  Add another 30g of butter to the pan and turn the heat down low. Saute the shallot, stirring to scrape up all the chicken juices, for 3 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and saute for a further 2-3 minutes.
• 5
  Gradually stir in 100ml of the hot chicken stock, 1 teaspoon of fine lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, Add the rest of the chicken stock and a squeeze more lemon juice if the sauce thickens too much.
• 6
  Stir in the capers and add black pepper to taste.
• 7
  Add the final 20g of butter, cut into pieces, and shake the pan gently until the butter is incorporated. Finely chop the parsley leaves and stir two thirds into the sauce before serving.
• 8
  Spoon half of the sauce over each chicken breast and then garnish with the remaining chopped parsley.