17 August 2016

At Home with Sophia: Chicken Saltimbocca

| Sophia Carlini
Join the conversation
11
FullSizeRender

I don’t know what it is, but more and more I am finding myself turning to chicken over red meat. I can be craving a meaty dish, will go out of my way to make one but then end up pushing all of the chunks of meat aside to eat only the veggies. Mike is also a very picky eater; he will only eat red meat if it doesn’t have any fat whatsoever. Because we can both be a bit fussy, we often just buy chicken. The problem is that when you’re eating chicken all of the time, you can get really get sick of it — just like anything I suppose.

Recently, I’ve been eating a lot of slow cooked food, so last weekend I thought I should branch out and try and make something a little bit different and put some actual effort into making a meal, as opposed to just throwing everything into the slow cooker.

I stumbled across a recipe for chicken saltimbocca with green beans which I thought would be super delicious; plus I felt like I hadn’t had any fresh green vegetables in a while and was definitely craving them.

I was lucky enough to have most of the ingredients at home, including the Marsala wine (I regularly make Tiramisu).

You will need:

  • chicken breast (1 per person)
  • prosciutto slices (1 per chicken breast)
  • sage leaves
  • olive oil
  • 40g unsalted butter
  • 150ml Marsala wine
  • 100ml chicken stock
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • green beans
  • 2 tbs flaked almonds
  • Vegeta or salt & pepper

Method

Flatten each chicken breast with a rolling pin between 2 sheets of baking paper to an even thickness; you will actually need to beat the chicken as opposed to rolling it out. Season with Vegeta, or salt and pepper.

Place a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf on top of each chicken breast and secure with a toothpick.

IMG_2909 IMG_2910

Heat 20g of butter in a fry pan over medium heat and cook chicken, prosciutto-side down, until the prosciutto starts to crisp. Turn chicken and add a couple of sage leaves to the pan. Continue to cook chicken until the juices run clear or it’s no longer pink inside. Remove from pan and set aside to rest.

Return pan to the heat, add the Marsala wine, stock and lemon juice, and cook for 2-3 minutes until reduced and syrupy.

Meanwhile, cook the beans in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain, return to the pan with the almonds and remaining 20g butter, then season and toss to combine.

Serve the chicken with the green beans and top with sauce.

FullSizeRender

This recipe was really easy to make and didn’t take too long at all. The chicken was also easy to cook because it was thin and even sized pieces. It’s definitely not the healthiest of meals with all of the butter, prosciutto and sugary Marsala wine, but it was certainly yummy and a great cheat night meal that isn’t too heavy.

I promise you won’t be disappointed.

I am constantly on the hunt for chicken dishes that are different so that it doesn’t feel like we’re eating the same meal over and over. If you have any killer chicken dishes I’d love to know about them.

Note: This recipe was adapted from the Delicious: chicken saltimbocca recipe.

Join the conversation

11
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

rubaiyat said :

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

*only chicken breast.

No fat, remember. And bones. God forbid bones.

I love those processed foods that proclaim to be fat free, and are one-third sugar. So healthy.

I do not understand people who cut fat from their meat – the fat has the flavour and all the important trace nutrients. The myth that eating fat makes you fat is well and truly exploded. If you feel like being healthy, cut the fat from your meat, eat the fat, and feed the rest to the dog.

As for chicken breast – go for it. The more people prefer the bland part of the chicken, the cheaper the thighs and other tasty bits are for me…

I cut the fat away because the texture gives me the heebie-jeebies. Bacon rind, crackling, the fat on lamb chops and chicken… no thank you. I’ll cut it off and give it to anyone who wants it, as long as it is far away from my mouth.

I also eat chicken breast because it’s so inoffensive, although reading that back, perhaps it is time to pursue vegetarianism and leave the meat to people who genuinely like it, mystery bits and all…

gooterz said :

HenryBG said :

I do not understand people who cut fat from their meat – the fat has the flavour and all the important trace nutrients. The myth that eating fat makes you fat is well and truly exploded.

No argument about flavour or the myth that “fat makes you fat,” but it’s no myth that people with high cholesterol or gall bladder problems should avoid fat…

High levels of LDL cholesterol increases risk of heart disease and high levels of HDL cholesterol decreases the risk. 75% of blood cholesterol does not originate from your diet but comes from your liver.
The belief that diet plays a part in high cholesterol is not actually backed up with data – it’s pretty much up there with “burnt toast gives you cancer”.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19852882
and, diet studies:
http://tinyurl.com/gpaxe6m
“the correlation coefficient is almost as often negative as positive, moreover, what is being discussed mostly is the absence of association, not merely association that is unexpectedly small.”
“Cholesterol and triglyceride levels were unrelated to quality, quantity, or proportions of fat, carbohydrate or protein consumed in the 24-hr recall period.”
“dietary factors they analyzed explained no more than 4% of the variation in blood cholesterol”
etc…

Cutting fat off your steak is a bit like taking homeopathic medicine – it won’t do you any harm, it won’t do you any good, but it could do you harm if you are doing it instead of doing something effective when something effective is actually needed.

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

rubaiyat said :

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

*only chicken breast.

No fat, remember. And bones. God forbid bones.

I love those processed foods that proclaim to be fat free, and are one-third sugar. So healthy.

I do not understand people who cut fat from their meat – the fat has the flavour and all the important trace nutrients. The myth that eating fat makes you fat is well and truly exploded. If you feel like being healthy, cut the fat from your meat, eat the fat, and feed the rest to the dog.

As for chicken breast – go for it. The more people prefer the bland part of the chicken, the cheaper the thighs and other tasty bits are for me…

They’re cutting the fat away so they can leave room for more carbs. And we can see where that leads…

HenryBG said :

I do not understand people who cut fat from their meat – the fat has the flavour and all the important trace nutrients. The myth that eating fat makes you fat is well and truly exploded.

No argument about flavour or the myth that “fat makes you fat,” but it’s no myth that people with high cholesterol or gall bladder problems should avoid fat…

dungfungus said :

rubaiyat said :

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

*only chicken breast.

No fat, remember. And bones. God forbid bones.

I love those processed foods that proclaim to be fat free, and are one-third sugar. So healthy.

I do not understand people who cut fat from their meat – the fat has the flavour and all the important trace nutrients. The myth that eating fat makes you fat is well and truly exploded. If you feel like being healthy, cut the fat from your meat, eat the fat, and feed the rest to the dog.

As for chicken breast – go for it. The more people prefer the bland part of the chicken, the cheaper the thighs and other tasty bits are for me…

rubaiyat said :

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

*only chicken breast.

No fat, remember. And bones. God forbid bones.

I love those processed foods that proclaim to be fat free, and are one-third sugar. So healthy.

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

Will you please give the anti-Canberra/anti-Canberran sentiment a rest? It’s tired.

rubaiyat said :

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

*only chicken breast.

No fat, remember. And bones. God forbid bones.

Poor battery chickens falling over in their cages trying to emulate Mae West.

My son the chef, we brought him up right, believes in whole of beast cooking, not a difficult concept.

Whatever happened to the giblets you used to get as part of the chicken carcase? They stuff the chicken with the huge fold of fat that it gets from lack of exercise, but nothing for the soup pot.

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

*only chicken breast.

No fat, remember. And bones. God forbid bones.

Nilrem said :

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

You must not have read the OP properly. Sophia says they prefer chicken – this is a variation.

These food reviews are great and do not deserve a sarcastic comment.

What a diverse, multicultural world of endless possibilities we live here in Canberra!

If you can’t eat red meat, that leaves chicken.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.