LOW Carb: Chicken Wrapped in Pancetta & Sage

Chicken Wrapped in Pancetta and Sage

 

Ingredients:

•12 small plum tomatoes, halved

•3 tbsp olive oil, plus more to drizzle

•salt and freshly ground black pepper

•3 skinless and boneless chicken breasts

•12 sage leaves

•12 slices of pancetta, unrolled

•6oz mixed baby greens

•1/3 cup olive oil

•1½ tbsp cider vinegar

•2 tsp chopped parsley

•1 shallot, finely chopped

•1 tsp light brown sugar

•salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Preparation:

The chicken can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead.

 

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F Put the tomatoes into a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 1 hour, or until slightly dried and caramelized.

 

2. To make the dressing, place the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

3. Cut each chicken breast into 4 pieces. Top each with a sage leaf, then wrap as tightly as possible with a piece of pancetta.

 

4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken pieces on each side. Lower the heat and continue to cook the chicken, turning, for 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

 

5. Serve the chicken with the greens and the roasted tomatoes, drizzled with the dressing.

What is the differnece between pancetta and prosciutto.  I have used prosciutto, like it but it can be a bit salty.

Carole,

Great question...Prosciutto is a salty Italian dry-cured (cured with salt) ham that is not smoked or cooked. True prosciutto is from Italy's province of Parma. It is usually thinly sliced and served simply as an appetizer (wrapped around melon slices), although it may be used in cooked dishes as well.

Pancetta is also dry-cured and not smoked but it is Italian bacon rather than ham. Since it is bacon, it contains more fat than ham. Because of this, I wouldn’t substitute pancetta for prosciutto in a recipe in which the prosciutto is not cooked. You can substitute prosciutto for pancetta but you might need to add additional fat to the recipe (such as olive oil). For example, many recipes call for diced pancetta. The pancetta is cooked in a pot to cook off some of the fat. The fat is then used to cook additional vegetables (such as onion, garlic and celery). Since prosciutto is much leaner, you may need to add a little oil for the vegetables to cook in. Hope this helps!


T.

Thank you for the explaination.  I have never used Pancetta but will give this recipe a definate try. 

I use prosciutto that I spead with goat cheese, wrap it around an asparagus sprear and grill.  Right now we have wonderful fresh asparagus and I am making this often.  Thank you again!
Carole

This is an amazing dinner - got two thumbs up from each family member last night after making..

I did however use low- fat Italian blend cheese in the center of the chicken breast with the fresh sage leaf, then wrapped in Prosciutto (sp) then pan seared in EVOO....

Placed on the bed of baby greens with the roasted tonatoes and roasted garlic, drizzled with the dressing and yummers..

Thanks for the recipe