Chicken Saltimbocca

From: EatingWell Magazine, March/April 2015

chicken saltimbocca

Ingredients

  • 2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5-6 ounces each), tenders removed (see Tip)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 2 thin slices prosciutto
  • 2-4 fresh sage leaves
  • 1½ teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¾ cup dry Marsala

Preparation

  1. Put chicken breasts between pieces of plastic wrap and, using a rolling pin or the smooth side of a meat mallet, bash them to a thickness of about ¼ inch, but don’t bash so hard that they break up. Season with pepper. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each chicken escalope and put a sage leaf or two on top. Lightly dust the chicken on both sides with flour.
  2. Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken until no longer pink in the middle, about 3 minutes per side. To check if it’s done, stick the tip of a sharp knife into it: the juice that runs out should be clear with no trace of pink. Transfer the chicken to a warm platter and cover with foil.
  3. Add Marsala to the pan and cook over high heat until thickened and reduced by about half, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

Note: It’s tricky to find individual chicken breasts small enough for one portion. Removing the thin strip of meat from the underside of a 5-ounce breast—the chicken tender—removes about 1 ounce of meat and yields a perfect 4-ounce portion. Wrap and freeze the tenders and when you have gathered enough, use them in a stir-fry or for oven-baked chicken fingers. If you can only find large chicken breasts, you’ll need just 1 breast for 2 servings—remove the tender and cut it in half crosswise before cooking.