Ham-and-Cheese Stuffed Chicken Cutlets

Since I'm still on my Rachael kick, here's another 15 minute meal from Just In Time. It's basically a lighter type of chicken cordon bleu.

INGREDIENTS:

-4 (6 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-3 tbsp EVOO, plus more for drizzling

-5 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped and chopped

-1 lemon, zested and halved

-1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, a generous handful, chopped

-4 slices prosciutto cotto or rosemary ham

-4 slices Fontina cheese, about 4 oz.

-Salt and pepper

-1/2 cup dry white wine

-1 lb. asparagus, trimmed

DIRECTIONS:

-Line up the chicken breast pieces on a work surface with the pointed ends closest to you. Place your hand flat across the top of each breast and use a sharp knife to cut horizontally into the meat, working your way down to the tip end; do not cut all the way through. You just want to be able to open up the breast like a book. Cover the butterflied breasts with plastic or wax paper and gently pound out to 1/4 inch with a small skillet; a couple of gentle whacks will do it.

-Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 3 tbsp of EVOO, 3 times around the pan.

-Combine the chopped thyme with a couple of tsps of lemon zest and the parsley. Sprinkle the inside of each chicken breast with the thyme-lemon zest-parsley mixture. Add a folded slice of prosciutto cotto or rosemary ham and Fontina cheese to each, then fold up the breasts again. Season the stuffed chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.

-Add the seasoned stuff chicken to the hot skillet and brown for 5 minutes. Carefully flip the chicken over, add the wine, and cook for 3-4 minutes.

-While the chicken cooks, bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a skillet. Salt the water and cook the asparagus for 3-4 minutes, until just tender. Drain and dress with the juice of 1/2 lemon and a drizzle of EVOO.

-Arrange a few spears of asparagus on each plate and top with a stuffed chicken breast. Spoon some of the pan juices over each serving.

COMMENTS:

-We made several substitutions here. As far as I can see, our local Price Chopper does not sell prosciutto, so we used ham instead. And we used provolone cheese instead of Fontina, partially because we already had some provolone, and partially because I've never heard of Fontina cheese.

-We skipped the whole pounding on the chicken part, because we didn't understand why we had to. Now I understand. It was kind of hard to stuff all that cheese and ham into a thick chicken breast. Pounding on it would have flattened it out and made it easier to stuff. (We ended up cooking them with toothpicks in them to hold it shut.) Now I know for next time!

-We did our usual garlic and butter asparagus recipe, instead of Rachael's. However, we did add in the lemon juice that she used, and it made a huge difference! We were surprised how much we tasted it and it really added to the flavor.

-We seasoned our chicken with Essence of Emeril. Yummm.

-Just a reminder that whenever recipes call for a 4-person serving, Craig and I usually make a 2-person meal instead. We did 2 chicken breasts instead of 4. Feel free to adjust the recipe accordingly!