chicken

chicken breasts with crispy posh ham

servings
2

method

This is a great way to prepare chicken breasts. The texture of the crisp cooked prosciutto goes brilliantly with the tender chicken. Bashing the chicken out thinly before you start cooking means it cooks much faster than a regular chicken breast. If you can’t get hold of prosciutto, then any kind of thin ham, such as Parma ham, or even smoked streaky bacon will work just as well.

To prepare your chicken
Pick the thyme leaves off the stalks. Carefully score the underside of the chicken breasts in a criss-cross fashion with a small knife. Season with a little pepper (you don’t need salt as the prosciutto is quite salty). Lay your breasts next to each other and sprinkle over most of the thyme leaves. Grate a little lemon zest over them. Lay 3 prosciutto slices on each chicken breast, overlapping them slightly. Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves. Put a square of plastic wrap over each breast and give them a few really good bashes with the bottom of a saucepan until they are about ½ inch thick.

To cook your chicken
Put a frying pan over a medium heat. Remove the plastic wrap and carefully transfer the chicken breasts, prosciutto-side down, into the pan. Drizzle over some olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, turning halfway through, giving the ham side an extra 30 seconds to crisp up.

To serve your chicken
Either serve the chicken breasts whole or cut them into thick slices and pile them on a plate. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over and a good drizzle of olive oil. Lovely with mashed potatoes and green veggies or a crunchy salad.

This recipe is taken from Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver (Hyperion). © Jamie Oliver, 2009

ingredients

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 small skinless chicken breast fillets, about 120g each, preferably higher welfare
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
• 4 slices of prosciutto
olive oil

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1. by Jamie on Sun 27 Nov 2011 @ 12:58

Wow that sounds yummy. Will definitely give it a try.<br /> Here is a nice chicken breast recipe with marmalade. Its a good one with orange flavour. Yummy!<br /> <br /> http://recipewithchickenbreast.com/marmalade-roasted-chicken-breast-recipe/

2. by Stacy on Fri 25 Nov 2011 @ 11:19

One of my favorite recipes from Ministry of Food. Just wondering what happened to the 30g of Parmesan cheese in the Food Revolution version though. The chicken would not be the same without the grated Parmesan, in my humble opinion. For those who would like to try the original version, the Parmesan goes on the breasts just after the thyme leaves and before the proscuitto. Divine.

3. by emma on Thu 24 Nov 2011 @ 14:56

tried this a few times... always a winner! :)foreinta

4. by Patty on Mon 14 Nov 2011 @ 18:08

Got the ingredients in the fridge. Going to give it a go..............

5. by Yummy on Wed 26 Oct 2011 @ 19:44

Just made this, was soooooooo delicious! went down a storm- empty plate all round!!

6. by johnmc on Mon 19 Apr 2010 @ 01:17

Looks absolutely delicious.

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