This Prosciutto-Wrapped Baked Chicken recipe is a simplified version of traditional saltimbocca, made with a heavenly buttery-garlic-sage-white-wine sauce.
Turns out that word saltimbocca literally means jumps in the mouth in Italian, which is pretty fitting for this dish filled with so many flavors. The traditional version is usually made with veal, which is pounded thin and rolled up with prosciutto and sage, and cooked in a buttery white wine sauce. In case you're not into veal, and don't feel like making some fancy-shmancy rolls, here's a simplified version of this recipe with chicken and wrapped in prosciutto and cooked with a buttery white wine sage sauce. Same great flavors, and so much easier to make.
We recommend serving with roasted veggies (which you can side-by-side with the pan of chicken) and a big green salad and some crusty bread and a chilly sauvignon blanc. This simple meal tastes like a downright Italian feast.
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
8-12 slices of Dry Ham Bayonne
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
1 tablespoon finely-chopped fresh sage
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dry white wine
fresh lemon wedges
(optional garnishes: chopped fresh chives, grated Parmesan cheese, and/or extra crushed red pepper flakes)
To brine the chicken: Simply fill a large bowl with 1 quart of warm water and 1/4 cup kosher salt. Stir to combine until most of the salt is absorbed. Add the chicken breasts and let them sit in the mixture to brine for 15 minutes. Or you can also also cover the bowl and refrigerate for up to 6 hours. Remove the chicken breasts from the brine, rinse them with cold water, then pat them dry with some paper towels.
To cook the chicken: Heat oven to 220°C
Wrap each chicken breast with 2-3 slices of prosciutto, so that the prosciutto covers most of the chicken.
Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in a large baking dish. Brush the chicken breasts evenly with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Then season both sides of the chicken breasts with a quick pinch of salt and pepper, then lay the chicken back in a single layer in the baking dish.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. If you use a cooking thermometer to measure the temperature thickest part of the breast, it should be between 70-75°C.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the oven and loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil. Let the chicken rest for at least 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, as the chicken is cooking, add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter to a small sauté pan, along with the garlic, sage and crushed red pepper flakes. Sauté over medium-low for 6-8 minutes, or until the sage starts to get slightly crispy. Slowly add in the white wine, and simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat.
Once the chicken and sauce are ready to go, spoon the sage-butter sauce evenly over the baked chicken breasts. Then serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges, sprinkled with optional garnishes if you'd like. (Feel free to make your serving as lemony as you'd like!)
