Chicken with Parma Ham and Aspara­gus (serves four)

3 tbsps but­ter
6 leaves fresh sage, whole
4 bone­less chicken breasts, skin removed
4 tooth­picks
20 stalks thin aspara­gus, snapped at the weak point on the stem
4 slices Parma ham
16 leaves baby spinach
6 mush­rooms, sliced thin
4 cloves gar­lic, minced
1 shal­lot, minced
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup sin­gle cream
salt and pep­per to taste

Melt but­ter in large skil­let and fry sage leaves until crispy, then remove the leaves and take skil­let off heat. Lay chicken breasts on a cut­ting board and either 1) pound them quite flat, or 2) cut as large a slit as pos­si­ble in one side, to make a pocket. Now, on a sep­a­rate cut­ting board, lay out Parma ham slices next to one another. At one end of each slice, pile on four spinach leaves, and lay 5 stalks of aspara­gus on each pile of spinach. Roll up the ham around the spinach and aspara­gus and tuck the lit­tle roll into the chicken pocket, or roll up in the flat­tened chicken breast if you went that route. Secure with a tooth­pick. Aren’t they cute?

Now, heat up the but­ter in the skil­let again. Lay the chicken breasts in the but­ter and brown, then turn over and brown again. After about 3 min­utes on each side, take chicken out and put on a plate, set aside. Add more but­ter if nec­es­sary and throw in the gar­lic, shal­lot and mush­rooms to saute until soft. Deglaze the skil­let with the wine and cook down for 3 min­utes, then add the cream, salt and pep­per and stir. Care­fully scoot the mush­rooms to the sides of the skil­let to make room for the chicken breasts, and lay them in the sauce. Cover and cook for six min­utes at a sim­mer. Serve on a plat­ter with the sage leaves on top.

Yum yum!

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