Chicken Francese for a crowd

I love chicken francese, but it's a fairly last-minute intensive dish to prepare...frying those cutlets can really eat up time, especially if you're cooking for a crowd. 

I tried a new twist for a "dinner party" (can you really call it a dinner party when you're eating off paper plates?) wherein I baked many chicken breasts that were seasoned with lemon pepper and served the lemon-caper sauce as a relish on the side.  Captures the same flavors with far less work.

If you prep this in advance and put your chicken in a baking dish in the fridge, plan for extra cooking time (I screw up so you don't have to).  The cold dish slows down the chicken's progression to an appropriate final temperature, and it took an extra 20-25 minutes of cooking to get my chicken up to temp.  Better yet, prep the chicken, store it in a ziptop bag and put it in the baking dish at the last minute. 

I don't have pictures because it was a dinner party and I had better things to do than take pictures of food LOL

Edited to note...this is evidently my 100th "freezer" recipe!  I guess I do more of this sort of thing than I realized!

Baked Chicken Francese
Makes 12 servings

3 lbs. chicken breasts, halved
lemon pepper to taste
1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts
2 tbsp capers
1/4 cup lemon juice

Season chicken with lemon pepper.  Store in fridge or freezer until ready to cook. 

Quarter artichoke hearts and combine with capers and lemon juice.  Fridge or freeze until ready to serve.

To bake, thaw (if necessary).  Bake chicken in a large baking dish at 375F for 30 minutes (or longer, if the baking dish is cold).  Remove to a cooking platter, and spoon relish over the top or pass it on the side. Pin It