Marsala Sauce

Chicken Marsala, pork Marsala, and steak Marsala are all wonderful dishes that people love to have when they go out to eat at Italian restaurants. Often though, there is the impression or misconception, that the only place you can get these wonderful dishes is at a restaurant. Part of this misconception lies in the fact that people believe Marsala sauce is a difficult, and tricky sauce to make. This couldn't be further from the truth! Here is a wonderful little recipe that you can use to make your own Marsala sauce for your next Italian feast. This recipe is so easy to use, that even the most inexperienced home chef can make it in less than half an hour.

Ingredients:

• 1 small white onion (1/4 cup) diced
• 3 cloves of garlic (roughly 1 tablespoon)
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1/2 cup of Marsala wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups of beef (or chicken) broth

Recipe:

1. Heat pan. Begin making your Marsala sauce by heating your pan. If you are using an electric stove, then you should set the temperature to medium. If you are using a gas stove, you should set the pan over a medium flame. This ensures that your pan does not get too hot, and you end up either getting hurt, or scorching any of the ingredients later.
2. Heat olive oil. Add the olive oil to the warmed pan. You will know that the oil has heated properly when it has expanded to cover the entire bottom of the pan, without the need for you to swirl it around. Typically this will only take a few minutes, about three or four at the most.
3. Heat onions, garlic, and mushrooms. After your olive oil has heated up properly go ahead and add the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Stir these ingredients around so that they do not get scorched or burnt. Keep cooking, until the mushrooms and onions have begun to caramelize (turn brown). This should take about five minutes at most.
4. Add flour. Once your mushrooms and onions have caramelized properly, add the flour. Stir everything around and cook for one minute.
5. Add wine. Deglaze the pan and it's ingredients by adding the wine
6. 6 Add stock. After you have added the wine, it is time to add the stock. Blend and cook everything until the sauce thickens to your desired consistency.
7. Serve. Congratulations, you have now made your Marsala sauce. Either place the sauce into a gravy bowl, or place the desired amount over your pork, chicken, or beef and serve to your guests.

Depending on the amount of sauce used by each person to flavor their food, this recipe will serve up to five people. Please feel free to adjust the recipe as needed to serve additional people.