Recipe - Prosciutto Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

I enjoyed fiddling with flavours to make this and would make it for a dinner party!

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 80g Panko bread crumbs
• 40g baby spinach
• 40g cheese (I used Parmesan but could use other or a mix)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 chicken breasts
• 8 slices of prosciutto
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

For the Mushroom Sauce

• 50g dried mushrooms
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 100g mixed fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
• 100ml white wine
• 125ml single cream
• Sea salt and ground black pepper
• Small handful of flat-leaf parsley, to garnish.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C

For the mushroom sauce

• Soak the dried mushrooms in a bowl with the chicken stock.
• For the stuffed chicken
• Blitz in the food processor: crumbs, spinach, cheese, garlic and season with salt and pepper

To stuff the chicken

• Lay the chicken breasts on a chopping board and, using a sharp knife, slice horizontally to create a pocket. Stuff each pocket with the mix.
• Wrap two slices of prosciutto around each chicken breast.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the chicken breasts and fry all over until they are crisp and golden. 
• Transfer the breasts to a roasting tin and cook on the middle shelf in the oven for about 20 minutes until the prosciutto is crispy and the chicken is cooked through.

Back to the mushroom sauce

• Add the butter to the pan and place it back on a medium heat.
• Fry the onion and fresh mushrooms until tender.
• Add the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes.
• Remove the mushrooms from the stock, keeping the stock and slice the mushrooms
• Pour in the soaked dried mushrooms together with the chicken stock and add the white wine.
• Bring the sauce to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2–3 minutes until slightly thickened. 
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream. 
• Season with sea salt and ground black pepper to taste.

To finish

• Remove the chicken from the oven as sprinkle over the rest of the bread crumb mixture and return to the oven for 5 minutes until golden brown.
• Sprinkle the cooked chicken breast with parsley and serve with the mushroom sauce and some rice, pasta or salad leaves