Passport & Plate - Chicken Rolls with Prosciutto Spinach & Mozzarella
Italy | Tuesday, March 11, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
6 wooden skewers
4 large individual boneless chicken breasts, about 16-20 oz. (500g) each
2 bunches spinach, about 6 cups of leaves, packed
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup or 230 mL)
1 medium bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
20 slices prosciutto, approx. 3.5-4 oz (100-125g)
1 1/2 cup (350 mL) tomato sauce
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
How to prepare this recipeSoak skewers in water to use later. Preheat oven to 380°F.
Rinse and pat breasts dry. Line a cutting board with 2 layers of saran wrap. Place 2 individual chicken breasts side by side, overlapping slightly. Cover with another piece of saran wrap. Using a meat hammer (or last night’s wine bottle) pound meat until 1/8-inch (3mm) thick. Some parts may tear, but don’t worry- just make sure the middle stays together.
Remove the top layer of saran wrap temporarily and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of ground pepper. Replace saran wrap and transfer onto a large baking sheet. Repeat with second set of breasts.
Transfer to freezer so meat is easier to roll later on.
Meanwhile, shred mozzarella. Set aside.
In a saute pan, heat about 1 Tbsp. olive oil and add onions. Cook for 3 minutes, then add bell pepper. Cook for another 7 minutes until soft.
In a small pot of boiling water, cook spinach about 45 seconds. Strain and rinse under cold water, squeeze dry, and chop.
Set up all ingredients around a large cutting board, keeping everything at hand including the skewers. Take the pounded breasts out of the freezer and lay one onto a cutting board. Discard top layer of saran wrap. Layer 10 pieces of prosciutto onto chicken. Next, spread half the onion and red pepper mixture, leaving about a 1/2-inch border. Place half of the chopped spinach and a couple spoonfuls of mozzarella cheese.
Turn the chicken so the longer edge is perpendicular to you and begin to roll. Use the saran wrap to help peel the chicken away and tuck firmly. Remember to fold in the left and right sides so your filling doesn’t completely fall out of the sides. After chicken is rolled up use skewers to hold together.
In a cast iron skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil. When oil is hot place chicken seam side down in the pan. Sear for two minutes until browned, then flip and sear again.
Coat with tomato sauce and sprinkle additional shredded cheese over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
The story behind this recipeI distinctly remember the first time I tried prosciutto—real prosciutto; Salty, hammy, fatty, Italian prosciutto.
It was summer of 2003, and I was on a study abroad program in Florence, Italy. I don’t remember a lot of Italian these days– that brain space seems to have been hijacked by other semi-useless information such as how long Challerhocker cheese ages for or the translation of items on a Chinese dim sum menu. What I do remember, however, were my first flavors that summer.
After getting sufficiently buzzed off one shot of milk-dotted macchiato on my first day in town, I wandered the streets of Florence. It marked the beginning of a lifetime of getting lost in foreign cities. Back and forth random streets, sometimes accidentally on the same street as before. After much thought and deliberation, I picked an underdog lunch option: A sidewalk sandwich vendor, to whom I spoke my first string of Italian words “Un Panini col prosciutto e arugula, per fevore”
Prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula, and olive oil, smushed between a piece of bread cut lengthwise through the middle. The olive oil was so liberally poured into the sandwich that the wax paper around it wept a yellowish-greenish hue. For several Euro I was handed the sandwich and a few napkins; not even a bag to take it away.
I can’t tell you where I stayed that night, or the name of one of my roommates that summer, but I do remember that sandwich, for its rich and fruity olive oil, the meaty yet billowy mozzarella, the spicy arugula—but most of all, because of that salty hit of prosciutto.
Ever since, I’ve been a sucker for cured meats-- prosciutto in particular. This recipe I share takes a classic French-inspired favorite, Chicken Cordon Bleu, but uses an Italian twist. Swirled with prosciutto, mozzarella, and baked with tomato sauce, it really does encapsulate the flavors that I tasted not only on my first day in Florence, but throughout the remainder of my first summer in Italy.
