Chicken Cordon Bleu Meets Florentine Meets Proscuitto!

I love stuffing chicken breasts! A plain, rather ordinary piece of chicken becomes instantly fancy. This time I stuffed with Ham, Parmesan Reggiano, and Spinach; rolled the breasts and then wrapped with Prosciutto before pan searing and baking.

Ingredients:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/4″ thickness
Salt/Pepper
1 large Tbsp. mayonnaise per breast
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 slices ham per breast. I used a very good quality ham. (not deli ham).
1 cup of spinach leaves per breast
3 thin slices Parmesan Reggiano per breast (or cheese or your choice)
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Sage leaves for garnish
Pomegranate seeds for garnish

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pound chicken breasts evenly to about 1/4″ thickness. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. Spread a generous tablespoon of mayonnaise (this keeps the chicken very moist) on each breast. Top each breast with 1 clove of finely minced garlic. Lay on 4 slices of ham. Next, add about 1 cup of spinach leaves.

Add the cheese and gently roll the chicken breasts stuffing spinach back in the ends if it starts to fall out. Wrap the breasts with prosciutto and secure with toothpicks or tie with kitchen string. The chicken breasts I used were so large I should have used the kitchen string, but I got lazy. The prosciutto is fairly effective in holding the breasts together. Bring a cast iron or heavy bottom skillet to nearly smoking hot. Add butter and olive oil and pan sear the chicken breast on all sides until the prosciutto becomes crisp. Spoon the oil over the breasts as they cook.

Place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the size of your chicken breasts. Use a meat thermometer to ensure that internal temp has reached 165 degrees.

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.

While cooling heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan and drop in the sage leaves to quickly fry on each side. Reserve the oil for drizzling over the chicken once it has been sliced. Slice the chicken into 1/2 inch pieces and serve topped with the fried sage and pomegranate seeds. Drizzle the sage oil over the chicken and serve.

Endless variations on stuffing and rolling chicken! That’s what makes it so fun!!

Here we are in Virgin Gorda, BVI, on our 20th wedding anniversary!