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Paillard of chicken with sage, mozzarella and oven-roasted tomatoes

James Martin from Good Food Live
James Martin combines chicken with Parma ham, mozzarella, sage and tomatoes to create a rich and flavourful dish

Paillard of chicken with sage, mozzarella and oven-roasted tomatoes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.

2. Lay a chicken breast fillet out on a chopping board. Remove the small arrow-shaped fillet attached to the main body of the chicken breast and reserve it.

3. Take a sharp knife and cut a slash the length of the chicken, from the thick end to the pointed end all way down the centre of the chicken breast fillet, being careful only to cut half-way through the chicken.

4. Carefully make horizontal cuts into each side of the long cut. Fold back the flaps and place the chicken breast under a piece of cling film.

5, Using a meat mallet, rolling pin or equivalent, gently beat the chicken until it is even thickness all over, taking care not to be too heavy-handed. Beat out the reserved small chicken fillet to a similar thickness.

6. Take a piece of mozzarella and place it in the centre of the beaten chicken breast. Season the chicken with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

7. Place the beaten small fillet over the top of the stuffing and roll the chicken around the stuffing trying to make sure the thick end is well tucked in.

8. Rub the chicken fillets with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Top each fillet with a sage leaf.

9. Place two slices of Parma ham on a clean work surface and roll the ham around the torpedo-shaped chicken.

10. Repeat the process with the other 5 chicken breasts.

11. Heat in a non-stick frying pan until very hot and add in the rolled chicken breasts seamed-side down first, browning them on all sides so that the Parma ham begins to go golden and crispy. This should take no longer than one and a half minutes if your pan is hot enough. Season with the nutmeg.

12. Place the chicken breasts with the baby tomatoes on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until cooked. The chicken should be firm-ish to the touch; don't be tempted to cut the chicken open to check, or the cheese stuffing will leak out.

13. Heat the spinach in a pan along with the chutney until well mixed. Serve the chicken with the spinach and the roasted baby tomatoes.

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Serves: 6

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 25 min

Ingredients
6 chicken breast fillets
300g buffalo mozzarella cheese, chopped into 6 even-sized pieces
Olive oil
sea salt, and freshly ground pepper
6 sage leaves
10 slices of Parma ham
pinch of Nutmeg, freshly grated
10 baby vine tomatoes
100g warm plum chutney, to serve
100g Spinach, freshly wilted, to serve