Saltimbocca is a Roman dish, traditionally made of veal cutlets draped with prosciutto and sage and fried until golden. For this recipe, I am taking boneless skinless chicken breasts and giving them the same treatment for a finished dish that is a little lighter, but still big on flavour. Serve these with a simple green salad, a pasta, or some steamed vegetables.
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, each breast filleted in half to make four cutlets
salt and pepper to taste
8 sage leaves
4 slices of prosciutto
1 cup flour (for dredging)
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Method:
- Using a mallet or the side of your knife, lightly pound the chicken cutlet so they are a uniform thickness.
- Season each chicken cutlet with salt and pepper, going a little light on the salt (as the prosciutto will be salty enough).
- Lay 2 leaves of sage on one side of each cutlet. Lay the prosciutto on top of the sage, covering one side of the cutlet like an eclipse (timely!).
- Spread the flour out on a plate, and dredge each side of a cutlet, tapping off any excess flour. Set the dredged cutlet aside on a clean plate and repeat with the remaining 3 cutlets.
- In a large pan on medium high heat, melt the butter with the oil. When the butter starts to foam, place the cutlets in, prosciutto side first, cooking until golden brown (about 3 minutes). Work in batches if the pan can only fit two cutlets at a time. Turn the cutlets over and finish the cooking (about another 3 minutes). Drain on paper towel and serve immediately.
- Saluti!