Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Paillards with Fontina & Sage

These Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Paillards with Fontina & Sage make for an easy weeknight or fancy weekend dinner! Tender, juicy chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto with creamy fontina and sage will delight your taste buds!

Hey guys! How was everyone’s holiday weekend? Did you have a big Easter dinner, maybe a nice brunch? Celebrate with family, or have a nice quiet holiday? However you spent your day I hope you enjoyed it and I hope your meal was memorable.

As I mentioned in my previous post my husband, Tom and I were planning a nice quiet, relaxing weekend at the beach. Our first solo Easter since both the boys are away at school. Well, let me tell you our weekend was anything but quiet.  It was packed full of friends, food and fun!  I absolutely love this time of year at the beach because everything starts to come alive again! After months of darkness, lights start to come on in the homes around the island again. Stores and restaurants that have been closed since last season put out their open signs welcoming visitors back. Help wanted signs start popping up in the windows of the various businesses around town planning for the upcoming busy summer at the Jersey Shore. It is such an exciting time!  We spent the weekend catching up with our wonderful neighbors and once again enjoying delicious meals together just as we do all summer long.  It was so much fun!

The Chicken Paillard I feature in today’s post was inspired by a recipe I found in Ted Allen’s, In My Kitchen cookbook while on a visit to the Avalon Library a few summers ago.  It has become one of my favorite chicken dish recipes. The word paillard is a French culinary term that refers to a quick-cooking piece of boneless meat that has been pounded thin with a mallet. The mallet breaks down the fibers in the meat making it more tender. In this recipe the thyme, sage and shallots make for such an incredibly savory sauce. I used prosciutto instead of pancetta and I also included some fontina cheese on each chicken breast because, well cheese…need I say more? Cheese makes everything better. I used fontina because I like its mild, nutty flavor. I also doubled the sauce in the recipe because the sauce is just that good that you are going to want extra to dip maybe a nice crusty bread in.  You can also serve it with a nice green salad or a side of rice pilaf. When I think of the perfect chicken dinner to serve to friends this one is at the tippy top of my list! Enjoy!

The countdown is on…..50 days until Memorial Day and the start of summer 2015!! YAY!!

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Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Paillards with Fontina & Sage

Course: 35 minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Mary Ann Dwyer

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1 large egg beaten
• 8 thin slices of prosciutto
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 shallots finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp. sage leaves finely chopped, 4 whole sage leaves
• 4 small slices fontina cheese about 2 -3 ounces

Instructions

1. Pound each chicken breast in between two pieces of wax paper to 1/4 inch thickness. Sprinkle both sides with salt and paper. Brush each piece of chicken with lightly beaten egg. Wrap each piece with two pieces of prosciutto. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
2. Add olive oil to large saute pan and place over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the chicken and saute for 3 minutes each side until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to plate and cover with foil.
3. To the same pan add the butter. Reduce the heat to medium and saute the shallots for 5 minutes. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the thyme leaves and wine. Simmer for 3 minutes scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock and the chopped sage and continue to simmer for a few minutes until thickened. Place the chicken on top of the sauce in the pan and top each piece of chicken with the slice of fontina and a whole sage leaf. Place lid on saute pan until cheese is melted. Serve the chicken over a few spoonfuls of the sauce.
4. This recipe was adapted from Ted Allen's recipe for Chicken Paillards with Pancetta and Sage.