Recipe of the Week: Stuffed Chicken Involtini with Roasted Potatoes
Enjoy this delicious recipe for your next dinner. Not only it is easy to prepare, but it bursts with flavor. The first time I had this dish was in Italy in a little trattoria in the beautiful countryside of Tuscany. As the waiter started to describe the dish I couldn’t wait to taste it. Made with thin slices of chicken scaloppini, then topped with a thin slice of mild fontina cheese and prosciutto ham, then fold in and dipped in egg batter before being brown in a skillet and the cooked in the oven. What makes this dish is the sauce that you prepare while the chicken involtini is baking in the oven – a luscious creamy lemon sauce that is reduced in a skillet on top of the stove until it coats the back of a spoon. As the saying says, “Try it, you will like!” Serves eight. (Chef tip: You can make this dish using a variety of meats: veal, turkey or even pork scaloppini. Have your butcher thinly slice the meat for you or do it yourself.)
2 pounds chicken scaloppini
1/4 pound sliced fontina cheese
1/4 pound sliced prosciutto ham
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 lemon for garnish
Place the chicken slices on top of plastic wrap cover with another sheet and pound with a flat meat pounder until about 1/4-inch thick. Stuff with a sliced of prosciutto and one slice of fontina cheese. Fold chicken breast in half.
Beat the eggs with the cheese, salt and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Mix the flour with rosemary, salt and pepper in a shallow plate. Place the chicken in the flour and turn to coat on all sides. Dip into the egg mixture. Return to the flour and turn again to coat on all sides. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, cook the chicken until golden brown, 5-6 minutes per side. Transfer to a large baking pan, cover loosely with foil, and continue with the remaining chicken. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
In a smaller skillet add the butter, lemon juice, stock, pepper, salt and chopped parsley and heat until simmering. Spoon a small amount of the sauce over each piece of chicken and serve at once with a slice of lemon.
Roasted Potatoes
(serves eight)
2 pounds red skin potatoes, cut into quarters
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare the marinade by whisking together the olive oil, pepper, salt, rosemary and garlic.
Wash potatoes well. Blanch them in boiling water. Lightly salt them. Then generously toss them with marinade. Sprinkle a little more salt.
Place the potatoes on the oven rack and cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven and serve.