Prosciutto-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breast
Jun 06, 2020
I’ve long been a fan of upgrading the lowly chicken breast. Because of it’s lean nature, too often a boneless, skinless chicken breast can be dry and flavorless after cooking. Because I’m a yacht chef, I also find myself wanting to bring out maximum flavor, but sometimes can only use a limited number of ingredients, due to storage and refrigeration constraints.
So began my love-affair with prosciutto-wrapping chicken. Wrapped snugly around a chicken breast, pan-seared to seal the prosciutto to the chicken, then finished in the oven, it lends itself to so many variations.
This one started as a two-fold mission: 1) to incorporate another blue-cheese element for the cookbook and 2) to support a recent partnership I have established with Jill Johnson, Accountability Coach extraordinaire. I “met” Jill on Instagram (@lifesneverdull) and have followed her journey. When I decided to get back into Keto, she and I connected and a mutually-beneficial alliance has formed: she’s going to “coach” me on developing my Keto habits and I’m going to create keto-friendly recipes for her group!
So, back to objective #1. In my continued search for unique blue cheese varieties, I stumbled across “Billy Blue” from Carr Valley Cheese. This is an interesting blue — it’s made from goat milk so it has the aroma of a goat cheese with the texture, creaminess and happy mold of a blue. I thought it might just be the perfect cheese with which to stuff my chicken breasts.
As it turned out, it WAS. Wow! What a combo. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. First, after making a pocket in the chicken breast and stuffing it with a healthy amount of Billy Blue, I wrapped the chicken breasts in two slices of prosciutto each. Now, when you peel the prosciutto from the package, don’t be discouraged if the slices shred, even if there IS wax paper or thin divider sheets between the slices. The beauty of this product is you can piece it together and still make it work. I tend to take the “non-shredded” sides of the prosciutto and use them on the outside edges and then smooth the shredded pieces to the interior and overlap those slightly to form one bigger piece.
The key to getting a good wrap is this: make sure the chicken flesh is dry! The prosciutto will not adhere to a wet piece of meat. Don’t be afraid to put some pressure on it as you wrap — think “burrito.”
When you have wrapped your chicken in the prosciutto, place it “presentation side down” (in other words, the “top” side of the breast) into a heated pan.
You can see how nicely wrapped the chicken is in this picture. The added bonus of wrapping the chicken is that it will help keep the cheese filling in the pocket you stuffed it in.
I decided to make a creamy shallot sauce to augment the already-creamy texture of the cheese and to compliment the saltiness of the prosciutto. Keto purists will yell at me because there’s flour in the sauce, but there’s so little it won’t whack out your carb count, I promise. If you are avoiding flour, you can substitute arrowroot flour or cornstarch. Also, if using milk isn’t your thing, feel free to sub a non-dairy “milk” but try to keep it as unflavored as possible so as not to negatively taint the sauce profile.
The best part of this recipe? (Ok, beyond the fact that it tastes ridiculous!) You can pull it together in under 1/2 an hour, so not only is it a great weekday meal, you can feel proud to serve it to company. Just don’t admit to how easy it was and they’ll rave about your culinary skills for months to come.
Keep following for more keto-friendly recipes as I develop them. But, keep in mind, you DON’T have to be living Keto to enjoy these dishes, and conversely, just because you are following a Keto lifestyle doesn’t mean you can’t eat gourmet! For more on Jill and what she does to help women and more, check out her blog: https://www.lifesneverdull.com/
Until next time…
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Blue Cheese and Creamy Shallot Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 6oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 6 oz goat-milk blue cheese
- 8 slices prosciutto
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp flour
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F
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Using a very sharp knife, cut a pocket down the long side of the chicken breast, taking care not to cut through the ends.
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Stuff 1/4 of the blue cheese in each chicken pocket, pressing cut side to seal cheese into pocket.
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Make sure outside of chicken breast is very dry. Use paper towels to dry if needed.
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Season chicken with salt and pepper
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Place two slices of prosciutto on a cutting board, overlapping long sides slightly. Place chicken breast, top (presentation) side down in the middle of the prosciutto slices perpendicular to the prosciutto. Using slight pressure, bring the bottom ends of the prosciutto up over the chicken breast and press to adhere.
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Roll chicken breast up over the top ends of the prosciutto so the ends of the prosciutto overlap and seal the chicken nicely. Keep firm pressure as you are rolling the chicken up so the prosciutto sticks well.
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Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 Tbsp of the olive oil. When hot, add the chicken breast presentation side-down to the pan and cook until prosciutto is nicely browned, about 3-5 minutes. Flip chicken carefully and cook the other side until lightly browned, 3-5 minutes. Remove chicken to a sheet tray and place in preheated oven to finish cooking. Cook chicken for approximately 15-20 minutes, until prosciutto is crispy and a thermometer, inserted into the thickest part of the chicken shows 160°F and juices run clear. Remove from oven, cover chicken with foil and let rest. Chicken will continue to cook slightly during this time.
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Add remaining olive oil to the hot pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and add shallots. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. If desired, reserve a few shallot slices for garnish. Add wine and chicken broth and bring to a slight boil, scraping any browned bits in the pan.
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Whisk together the flour and milk; whisk into the broth/shallot mixture. Return sauce to a boil and reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened.
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Slice chicken at an angle, if desired, or serve whole, spooning shallot sauce over chicken. Top with reserved shallot slices and additional cracked pepper.
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