Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Stuffed Chicken with Fresh Sage in Prosciutto Envelopes

Tired of boring and dry skinless chicken breasts? I concocted this moist and juicy chicken dish from a simple amalgamation of some of my favorite cheeses and fresh sage. The result of my experiment is nothing short of an orchestra of complex and lavish flavor. This is an exercise where the sum is certainly greater than its parts. I used a combination of 4 cheeses in the filling (a shredded blend of Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina and Mild Provolone), but be creative! Add your own blend, or just one of your favorites.
This recipe is so impressive-looking and utterly satisfying, I've served it at a formal Christmas Eve dinner, and conversely I've chopped into tiny pieces to my 13-month-old, who has increasingly good taste and shows promise as a future foodie!

1 1/2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
6 slices prosciutto (di Parma or San Daniele)
1/2 cup fresh sage, trimmed
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion, minced
sea salt and fresh ground pepper

3/4 cup blend of favorite cheeses (my 4 cheese blend aka: Trader Joe's Quattro Formaggio)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine garlic, onion, cheese, and salt and pepper. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. One by one, roll out a chicken thigh and spoon a little mixture inside. Roll up and wrap with a piece (or two!) of prosciutto, tucking in a few sprigs of sage before sealing. Arrange on lightly oiled cookie sheet. Before placing in the oven, sprinkle the lot with some fresh ground pepper. Bake 40-45 minutes. Serves 4.
Food Fact! In English, the word "prosciutto" is almost always used for dry-cured ham which has not been cooked; Derived from the Latin perexsuctum, in Italian, "prosciutto" refers to the pork cut, not to its specific preparation. Italian speakers therefore make a distinction between prosciutto cotto ("cooked ham"), and prosciutto crudo ("raw ham"). Depending on the size of the ham, the process of making prosciutto can take anywhere from nine to eighteen months. Typcially, Prosciutto Crudo is served as antipasti, wrapped around grissini (breadsticks), cubes of melon, as a pizza topping or an ingredient in pasta dishes.

In the United States, Prosciutto di Parma is highly favored; In Italy, Culatello, a silky rose-colored meat cured in the humid climate of Italy’s Po River valley and aged a minimum of 11 months, is preferred. To make a Culatello, master butchers use the largest muscle from the rear leg of the pig, thereby sacrificing a leg that might otherwise be turned into Prosciutto, which helps explain Culatello’s cost and rarity, selling for upwards of $25.00 per pound.




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