Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Prosciutto and Jarlsberg Cheese
Sometimes called chicken Cordon Bleu, these thinly pounded, stuffed breasts show how favorite, familiar dishes can have a place in a healthful diet. This recipe uses reduced-fat cheese, and egg whites in place of whole eggs. Broccoli or green peas are good accompaniments.
Ingredients:
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, about 1 lb. total
- 2 slices reduced-fat Jarlsberg cheese, about 2 oz. total
- 4 slices prosciutto, about 1 oz. total, trimmed of all visible fat
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup Italian-seasoned fine dried bread crumbs
- 1 egg white
- 1 Tbs. 2-percent-fat milk
- 3 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise so you have a total of 8 pieces. Working with 1 piece of chicken at a time, place it between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and, using a meat pounder, pound to flatten to an even thickness of 1/2 inch.
Preheat an oven to 350°F.
Cut each slice of cheese in half, so you have a total of 4 pieces. Place 1 piece of cheese on 1 piece of chicken. Trim the cheese to fit. Place 1 prosciutto slice on top of the cheese, folding it so it fits neatly. Top with another piece of chicken. Repeat to make 4 stuffed breasts in all.
Place the flour on a wide, shallow plate and the bread crumbs on another plate. In a wide, shallow bowl, beat the egg white with the milk until blended.
Dredge a stuffed breast in the flour, coating it evenly and lightly shaking off the excess. Turn it in the egg white mixture and then dredge it in the bread crumbs, coating it evenly and using your fingers to help it adhere. Set on a plate and repeat with the remaining 3 stuffed breasts.
In an ovenproof, nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 1/2 tsp. of the olive oil. Add the stuffed breasts and cook until browned on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Drizzle the remaining oil in the pan around the chicken, carefully turn the breasts and brown on the second side, 3 to 4 minutes more. Place the pan in the oven, or transfer the chicken to a baking sheet and place in the oven, and bake the chicken until it is opaque throughout when cut into with a knife, about 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to warmed individual plates. Serve immediately. Serves 4.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Essentials of Healthful Cooking, by Mary Abbott Hess, Dana Jacobi & Marie Simmons (Oxmoor House, 2003).
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$42.95
