I woke up to this sun-filled morning and decided that, for dinner, I wanted pasta with the basil pesto I still have from last summer’s batch. I am happy just with pasta, but my body didn’t need, with its still pandemic 20, five or six ounces of pasta I wondered if I still had Pam Anderson’s “How to Cook Without a Book” on how to make a thin chicken cutlet to go with that pasta.

I looked in my bookshelf and I hadn’t given it away to the Book Barn. Not only that, I still have the column in my computer files, from 2014, but I hadn’t made it since my move to a condo.

So, I foraged into my garage freezer and found boneless, skinless chicken breasts and found the pesto from my kitchen freezer. That evening, I made the chicken with the Marsala pan sauce. This way I only needed two ounces of pasta.

I took the tiny package of pesto and warmed the plastic in my hands. I drained the pasta, added the pesto, topped it with some fresh parmigiana, and placed it on a warmed plate with the chicken Marsala. Show me a restaurant that can do it as well as you (or I) can.

Sautéed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Cutlets

Adapted from “How to Cook Without a Book,” by Pam Anderson (Broadway Books, New York, 2000)

Serves 4

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each cut horizontally and opened (like a book)

Salt, ground black pepper and one-quarter cup flour poured into plastic bag

Pan sauce (see below)

Heat butter and oil into an 11- to 12-inch skillet over low heat. While pan is heating, dredge breasts into flour mixture and shake out excess. (You will saute them in batches single file, if necessary, so that they do not steam.)

A couple of minutes before sautéing, increase heat to medium-high. When butter starts foaming and starts to smell nutty, arrange the chicken breasts in the skillet. Cook, turning only once, until chicken breasts are rich golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove chicken from skillet and place on warmed platter.

How to make a pan sauce

Combine pan sauce ingredients in a measuring cup; the liquid will always total ½ cup.

Pour liquid into hot skillet once chicken cutlets (or pork or veal or fish, for that matter), scraping off good browned bits.

Reduce liquid to ¼ cup. Tilt skillet and whisk in butter or cream, and spoon over each portion and serve.

Red Wine-Dijon Pan Sauce

¼ cup canned low-sodium chicken broth

¼ cup full-bodied red wine

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon butter

Marsala Wine Pan Sauce

½ cup Marsala wine

1 tablespoon butter

Balsamic Vinegar Pan Sauce

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup canned low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon butter

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.