Chicken Saltimbocca

A version of Sambocca alla Romana.

This one is modified from Mario Batali.  It tastes sooo good, and the fried sage leaves are a nice touch.  I don't know what to serve it with so I serve it over a dollop of mashed taters or some angel hair pasta.  If you had an appetizer or a salad with it I would forgive you. I do a few things differently from Mario.  I make the sauce without the chicken in the dish, and I grate some cheese over the top. I also made some modifications to the procedure.

You'll need;

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 4 large slices of proscuitto
• about 20 fresh sage leaves
• 1.5 cups of olive oil
• 3 shallots (thinly sliced)
• 4 oz each of oyster and button (white) mushrooms (sliced)
• 3/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup white wine (Marsala preferred)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp Italian parsley

Pound the breasts out to just over 1/4 inch with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy pot.  If some bits come off you are probably doing it too hard.  I don't use plastic wrap for this, I put the breasts between two flexible cutting mats to contain the chicken contamination.

Put each breast smooth side down and lay a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf inside.

Fold the breast over like you are closing a book and use a toothpick to hold it closed.  Ideally no ham is showing.  If you own a vacuum sealer you can skip the toothpick and get an awesome presentation by sealing the "books" 2- 3 in a package and sealing them up.  Put 'em in the fridge for a couple hours and they will hold their shape.  (This worked so well last time I thought about cooking them sous vide and finishing in the pan...)

Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan to 375F (nearly smoking).  If you need more oil you can cut the olive oil with vegetable oil.

Fry the remaining sage leaves a few at a time (about 20 - 30 sec) and remove to a paper towel.  Watch out!  Fresh sage leaves will spit when first added to the oil.

The leaves will be crispy when they come out.  They will also be fragile.  Take care.  Save the sage flavored oil to use for the rest of the recipe.  Mario didn't think of this.

Season the flour with salt and pepper and spread it on a plate.

Season both sides of the breasts with salt and pepper and dredge them in the flour.  Try to coat the entire piece.

Heat a skillet to med high and add 4-5 tablespoons of the sage infused oil.  Saute the chickens about 5 minutes on each side until golden.

Reserve them to a plate in a warm (200F) oven while you make the sauce.  Mario (and tradition) say that you should build the sauce around the chicken but I think the pan gets too crowded.  I will show a photo of the chicken back in the sauce (that I staged) but know that my chick waits in the warm oven until plating.

Too crowded to make the sauce properly.

After the chicken is out, drizzle in 2 more Tbsp of that oil and sprinkle a couple of tsp of flour into it.  Cook that "roux" for a sec and then add the mushrooms and shallots to the pan.

Sweat the vegetables for about 5 min and then add the stock and wine.  Reduce by half or a little more and things begin to thicken (remember there was flour in the skillet).

Turn off the heat and drop in the 3 Tbsp butter and the parsley.  Swirl the pan while the butter melts.  Sauce is done.

Plate the chicken, add sauce over the top or put the sauce on the plate and drop the chicken on top.  Your choice.  I make it at the last minute depending on how awesome the chicken looks.
Top with a few fried sage leaves and some micro-planed parmigiano.  Dig In!