Creative Cooking with Southern Flair!
Chicken Saltimbocca
with Butternut Gravy
Ingredients
Butternut Gravy
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup small dice, butternut squash
1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1 cup diced, yellow onion
2 cups chicken stock
3-4 stems fresh thyme
Fresh grated nutmeg, to-taste
1/3 cup Marsala wine-liquor store brand
1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter-soft
Salt & pepper
Chicken
2 large chicken breasts (each breast should be enough for 2 servings)
Salt & pepper
Sliced Prosciutto
Havarti cheese, thinly sliced
Flour for dredging
2 large eggs, whisked
Meat thermometer
Coating
8 ounces French style bread crumbs
½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ teaspoons ground sage
Mix together in a small bowl
Olive oil
Fresh sage leaves
Directions
Butternut Gravy
Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium temperature. Add butternut squash, cover and cook until squash starts to soften. Add butter and onions, season with salt & pepper, cover, stirring often and cook until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add Add chicken stock, thyme, nutmeg, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. Remove thyme stems, pour into a blender and pulse on low until smooth.
Add back to the pan and add Marsala wine. Cook uncovered over medium-low temperature until sauce starts to thicken. About 5-7 minutes. Swirl in the butter and salt & pepper to taste. Makes about 1 ½ cups. If the sauce becomes too thick add some more chicken stock to thin out. Serve warm with chicken saltimbocca.
Chicken Preparation
Cut the chicken breasts in half widthwise and butterfly each half. You will have 4 pieces. Unfold each piece and lay flat onto a cutting board. Cover with plastic wrap and pound flat. Season both sides of each piece with salt & pepper. Place 1-2 slices of Prosciutto and 1-2 slices of Havarti cheese (depending on thickness) in the center and fold back over. When coating the chicken, focus on the edges so the cheese doesn’t melt out when frying. Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, dip in the egg, then press into the bread crumbs to coat, shaking off any excess.
Fill the bottom of a skillet with olive oil, toss in some whole sage leaves and a few crushed garlic cloves to season the oil and heat over med-high temperature. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and brown both sides of each piece. About 1 minute each side. Remove garlic if it starts burning. Place chicken in a baking dish and place on the middle rack in the oven at 350F until the center of the largest piece registers 165F degrees. Remove from the oven and lightly tent with aluminum.
Garnish-Fill a small pan with about ½ inch of olive oil and heat over medium temperature. Fry whole sage leaves for 20-30 seconds until crispy. Sage will burn quickly, so be careful. Serves 4.