I am an avid re-teller of the same stories, which makes it very dangerous to travel with me, since anything that happens on our trip is liable to be told a thousand times to anyone who will listen. One of these stories will certainly be about the time Sam and I went to Italy and ate at a restaurant where they shaved the prosciutto right of the leg of the pig with the hoof still attached. It was both thrilling and gruesome, but it was more than anything delicious. While it was happening I was picturing myself retelling this story, so here I am, about ten retellings in, a grandmother in my own right.
Prosciutto is an Italian cured meat, like a ham, but very thinly sliced. You can find it any almost any deli section, and it’s deliciously salty and thin, perfect for wrapping around a chicken breast and searing with lemon juice and capers. I honestly couldn’t decide between making my favorite Chicken Piccata and Chicken Saltimbocca, so I made a sort of hybrid of the two. It’s thinly sliced chicken breasts wrapped in Proscuitto, lightly pan seared and then covered in a lemon butter caper sauce. You cannot lose.
Let’s get started on this delightful dish! Preheat your oven to 425 and wash and dry your potatoes. Then slice them in half and place them on a baking sheet. Coat them in a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper and bake for about 20 minutes or until they’re easily pierced with a fork.
First, I’ll explain how to butterfly in case you’re not sure. Here’s a pictoral demonstration from one of my previous posts if you need it.
To butterfly the chicken, take the chicken breast in your hand and begin cutting horizontally into the side to make two thin pieces. Do not cut all the way through and open up the chicken like a book. Flatten this on a board and cut it into two separate pieces. Repeat with the second chicken breast.
Then to make it easier to hammer and thin out, we will take the tip of the knife and do some shallow criss cross marks on one side of the chicken breast. Don’t cut too deep! Then place a chicken breast into a ziploc bag, seal, letting all the air out, and hammer it with a hammer on a cutting board until it’s a bit thinner. Salt and pepper each side of the meat. Place a slice of proscuitto on the top and repeat this with each.
If you have a fancy meat mallet, by all means, use this, but it’s good to do it on a plastic cutting board or still in the bag. I used a regular hammer…
Dredging is when you dip something in flour before frying. Pour your flour onto a plate and dip the chicken on both sides into the flour, shaking off the excess. Now you’re ready to sear these!
Heat a large skillet (the largest you have) over medium high heat. Add butter and olive oil. If the chicken is too crowded in the pan, it won’t brown, so you’ll need to do two at a time if they’re too crowded in your skillet. Start with the prosciutto side down and sear for 2 minutes. Then flip and sear for another 3 minutes. Remove these to a plate.
To the skillet, add the white wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits for a minute or so. Then add the broth. Simmer this for a couple minutes until the liquid is reduced by about a third or half. Then add the juice of one lemon and capers to the pan. Add the chicken back tothe pan, prosciutto side up. Cook on medium low or on a medium simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Remove the chicken to your serving platter. Remove the sauce from the heat. Whisk in the remaining butter and taste to see if it needs salt. Capers are briny, so it may not! Then pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with potatoes.
- 1 lb baby red potatoes
- 2 chicken breasts, about 1 lb
- salt and pepper
- 4 slices of proscuitto
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus some for drizzling
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 lemon
- ¼ cup drained capers
- Preheat your oven to 425 F. Rinse and dry your baby red potatoes. Slice them in half. Place them on a large baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Butterfly your chicken breasts by cutting them horizontally and opening them like a book. Then cut this into two separate pieces. Use the tip of a sharp knife to cut a shallow criss cross pattern into one size of the chicken. Place the chicken in a sealed ziploc bag, one at a time and use a hammer to flatten them slightly. Repeat with each piece. Then salt and pepper each piece on both sides.
- Place a piece of prosciutto over each piece of chicken. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of the butter and olive oil. Add the chicken pieces proscuitto side down and cook for 2 minutes. Flip each piece and cook another 3 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Add the white wine to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits. Do this for about one minute. Then add the broth and the lemon juice. Let this simmer down to about half for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the capers and stir and add the chicken back to the pan, turning down the heat to a simmer for about 3 more minutes. Check the chicken for doneness and remove the chicken to a serving platter.
- Remove the sauce from heat and add the butter to the sauce, whisking. Then pour this over the chicken on the platter to serve. Serve with the potatoes.
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