Chicken Involtini

Originally published on March 4, 2014

This is another one of those recipes that I first saw on MasterChef (MasterChef Canada, to be exact) and knew that it was something I had to try. It sounded so interesting to me, and while I had stuffed chicken breast in this way before, I had no idea that it actually had a name and that it was from one of my favourite food regions in the world – Italy! You can stuff it with just about anything that you happen to have on hand. I chose mozzarella, spinach and prosciutto.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 slices prosciutto 
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry of all moisture
4 thin slices fresh mozzarella 
2 cups spaghetti sauce or very high quality tomato sauce
Salt 
Pepper 
1 teaspoon garlic powder 
3 tablespoons olive oil 

Directions:

1.) Rinse the chicken breasts and pat them dry. One by one, place the chicken breasts into a large resealable bag or between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin, pound chicken until it’s an even thickness of about 1/4″ thick. Remove one breast when finished and continue with remaining chicken breasts.

2.) Lay all pieces of chicken out flat, ensuring that the smooth side of the breast is face-down, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Onto each chicken breast lay one piece of prosciutto, about 1/2 cup of spinach, and 1 slice of mozzarella.

3.) Starting from one end, roll chicken up tightly so that the filling spirals inside, and secure tightly with kitchen twine – either one in the middle of the breast, or one on each end, depending on how large your chicken breasts are.

4.) Preheat a grill to medium heat and drizzle chicken breasts all over with olive oil. When hot, place chicken breasts on the grill and cover either by closing the lid on an outdoor grill or by placing aluminum foil over an indoor grill. Cook for about 20 minutes, turning a quarter turn every five minutes or so to ensure that all sides are evenly cooked.

5.) While the chicken is cooking, place the spaghetti sauce in a small pan over medium heat, cover, and heat just to warm through.

6.) When chicken is finished cooking, rest for about five minutes before removing twine, cutting in half, and placing on a pool of sauce on a plate.

7.) Serve and enjoy!