Chicken Saltimbocca

I love cooking with a variety of herbs but one of my favourites has got to be sage with its unique, aromatic and slightly bitter flavour. Sage enhances so many dishes and maintains its strong flavour even when cooked for a long time. For this reason, you only need a little bit otherwise you’ll risk overpowering the other elements in the dish, however it really does add a lovely zing of flavour. Sage is great with pasta, simple add to a little melted butter and lemon juice. It also goes incredible well with pork (think sausages and pork belly) as well as chicken and beef. And who doesn’t love a bit of sage and onion stuffing with their Sunday roast?!

Sage has a long tradition of culinary use (it’s also noted for its medicinal properties) and is a favoured herb in British, Middle Eastern and Italian cookery. In Italy, sage is widely used in a variety of dishes; one of the most notable and much loved is the traditional Roman dish Saltimbocca. The dish is usually made with veal but works equally as well with chicken because of its similarly delicate flavour.

Amusingly translated as ‘jump in the mouth’, Saltimbocca definitely lives up to its name and will most certainly impress your dinner guests. I served this up in the restaurant this week and it went down a treat – I’d almost forgotten how good it really is (and my customers seemed to agree too!). This delicious dish is both simple and quick to prepare, making it perfect for a midweek dining treat. For a more authentically Italian meal, serve with some creamy polenta or, alternatively, some mashed potatoes and a few green beans.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 chicken breasts (approx. 200g each)

3 sage leaves

6 slices Parma ham

200ml chicken stock

75ml white wine

2 tbsp. flour

Black pepper

Knob of butter

Oil for cooking

A few sprigs of parsley

Method

Cut each chicken breast into 3 equal pieces on a 45 degree angle. Place between 2 pieces of cling film and bash lightly using a meat mallet (or rolling pin) until approx. 0.5cm or ¼ in thick. Remove the cling film.

Place half a fresh sage leaf on top of each piece of chicken and cover with a piece of Parma ham before lightly dusting with flour.

Heat 3 tbsp. oil in a hot pan and place each piece of chicken in the pan Parma ham side down. Cook for 2 minutes before turning and cooking for a further 2 minutes.

Carefully remove any excess oil from the pan and add the butter and white wine. Pour in the stock and season with pepper before allowing to bubble for a few minutes until the sauce is hot and the chicken is cooked through. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh, chopped parsley.