Chicken & Basil Saltimbocca
I’m getting fancy over here!
When I described to my boyfriend what I was making he said “oh, bacon wrapped chicken?” I almost flipped. But then I realized, yeah pretty much. But so much fancier! Chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto & basil then breaded in Panko bread crumbs & baked. I paired it with marinated cherry tomatoes, cucumbers & creamy burrata. Sounds so much better right?! It’s super easy & fairly quick. I merged a few recipes I found online together.
If you’re like me & never heard of chicken saltimbocca before now, it’s an Italian dish. Traditionally it is made with fresh sage & prosciutto. Saltimbocca translates to “jumps in your mouth”, which I’m assuming is because it’s extremely flavorful. It’s crispy, salty & herby. Plus creamy, crunchy & tangy from the burrata & balsamic salad. Nom nom nom.
This dish only has 6 ingredients & takes about 45 minutes to complete (over half of that is in the oven) so it’s perfect for when you don’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen.
First, you want to start off by slicing the chicken breasts in half to create cutlets. I found out the hard way that this is a little more complicated than I thought to get even pieces, so if you’re not confident I suggest just buying the chicken in cutlet form. It was a little more expensive but now I see why, butchers are indeed valuable.
Next, you press a couple pieces of fresh basil onto each piece of chicken & then wrap in prosciutto. The wrapped chicken then goes for a dip through a couple beaten eggs then coated in Panko crumbs. Basically, we’re making fancy chicken parm, minus the parmesan.. though if you wanted to add some freshly grated parm to the panko bread crumbs I’d tell you that was an excellent idea.
Now, cook. Some of the recipes I looked at said pan-fry but the breasts I got were way bigger than I was anticipating so I just baked because my pan isn’t that big (and it’s much healthier). While the chicken is baking I made the salad. I used cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a little bit of fresh basil, thyme, & a dash of salt. I added torn burrata to the plate once everything was done.
Overall it’s a very light, tasty & satisfying dish. Perfect for the warm weather we’re finally getting here on the East Coast. I’ll be making this all summer!
Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally (or 4 chicken cutlets)
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & black pepper
1 cup fresh basil
8 slices prosciutto
2 large eggs, whisked
2 cups Panko bread crumbs
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup cucumber
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp fresh thyme
zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 balls of burrata cheese
Preheat oven to 415 degrees.
Place the eggs & Panko in separate shallow bowls.
Rub chicken with garlic & season with salt & pepper. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, press 2 basil leaves on top of each cutlet. Wrap 2 pieces of prosciutto around each cutlet to secure basil. Drag both sides of the chicken through the egg & then through the Panko, pressing gently to make sure it sticks. Place the chicken on oiled or aluminum foiled baking sheet.
Place chicken in oven for 25 minutes, check & if need more browning keep in for another 5 minutes.
While chicken bakes make the salad. In a bowl, toss together the tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup fresh basil, thyme, lemon zest & a pinch of salt & pepper.
Serve the chicken warm topped with torn burrata & marinated salad.
Enjoy!
