Created by Chef Bruce Woods

This dish combines a classic dish with Mediterranean flavours which are perfect to enjoy all year long. All elements of the dish can be made up to 12 hours in advance, and finished before serving.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Yorkshire Valley Farms organic chicken fronts, whole, or 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 oz prosciutto cotto
• 4 oz Monforte Piacere (substitute Telleggio) cheese
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
• Salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Pre-heat your oven to 425°F
2. Debone chicken breasts and remove the skin. You can ask your butcher to do this for you, or as an alternative, can always buy boneless, skinless breasts.
3. Butterfly the chicken breasts by using your knife, and slicing away from you, cutting into the thickest part of the breast. Slice almost all the way through, so as to be able to lay it flat, but still maintaining one, whole breast. As an alternative, you can use the tip of your knife to cut a pocket at the thickest part of the chicken breast, and if you do so, cut almost to the other side, but not all the way through. Make the pocket long enough to accommodate your cheese and prosciutto stuffing.
4. On a separate surface, with clean utensils, slice 4, 1 oz pieces of Piacere (or a favorite soft cheese of your own), and thinly slice the prosciutto cotto. A meat slicer is ideal for this, so if you don’t have one, ask your butcher or grocer to slice it for you.
5. If you have butterflied the chicken breast, lay in the cheese, and cover with the ham. If you’ve cut a pocket in the chicken breast, stuff in the cheese and ham.
6. From here, you have a couple of options, depending on how much time you’ve got available. Option one is that you can re-shape the breast, and allow to chill, covered, in the fridge for 10-15 minutes Option two takes some time, but if you’re looking to impress guests, is the route to take. In this method, you will be rolling the chicken breast in saran wrap, to form a long, cylindrical roll called a roulade. Place the saran wrap, running lengthwise, away from you, and roll out 2.5-3 feet. Put the chicken, ham and cheese on the wrap, with about three inches of saran wrap in between you and the chicken. Roll this over, to begin to form the roulade, and continue to roll, away from you. Tighten your roulade by pulling the saran wrap tight to the flesh, and pressing the ends in. Once you’ve gotten the shape you desire, twist both ends, in order to seal the roulade. At this point, wrap the roulade in tin foil, and poach in simmering water until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
7. Whichever method you followed for your chicken breasts, you are now ready to bread them. This step is optional, and can be omitted, however, we really like the textural contrast it provides. In three different bowls, set up a breading station, consisting of one bowl of all purpose flour, one bowl of egg wash (crack the eggs and whisk them together with 2 tbsp milk), and one bowl of panko bread crumbs. First, coat the chicken evenly in flour, then remove from flour, dust off extra, and follow the same method for the egg wash. Finally, coat the chicken with the breading. At this point, discard any extra breading.
8. On the stove top, heat the grape seed oil in a heavy bottomed, high sided pan, over medium-high heat, and when the oil reaches 300°F (test with a fry thermometer if you’ve got one, if not, add a piece of bread or something that’s handy and check that it will cook quickly), you can add your chicken breasts. Pan fry them on all sides until the breading has reached a crusty, golden brown color.
9. At this point, transfer your chicken to a baking tray, season with salt and pepper, and place it in the oven. If you’re working from raw chicken, cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. If you’re working with a pre-cooked roulade, cook until the cheese in the center is hot, approximately 7 minutes.

Serves 4