Chicken Escalopes with Lemon and Prosciutto

Good With: Jasmine Rice, Risotto, Green Chile and Ricotta Rice
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $1.99 per serving
Adapted from Four ingredient Cookbook by Joanna Farrow

The fancy name of this dish makes it sound difficult to prepare, but in reality it’s extremely easy. Escalope is a french word that means a very thin white meat fillet, and a rolling pin or meat mallet is usually the tool employed to thin (read: pound) the meat. This recipe uses escalopes because the thinner meat absorbs more of the ham and lemon flavor than a thicker cut would.

Ingredients

Makes: 2 servings

2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (2.49)
1.5 oz butter, softened
2 slices prosiutto (.99)
1/2 a lemon (.25)
fresh ground black pepper

Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Cream the butter with a generous helping of black pepper and set aside.
3. Put each chicken breast between two large pieces of plastic wrap and beat them with a rolling pin until they are about half their original thickness.
2. Move chicken to a square baking pan and place one slice of prosciutto on to each piece.
4. Cut 4 thick lemon slices and place 2 on top of each escalope.
5. Dot escalopes generously with pepper butter.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes, until chicken is done.
7. Spoon any excess juices from the baking dish over escalopes and serve.

Yaaaaaaargh: Pay close attention to the cooking time on these. We left ours in for about 30 minutes and they were definitely on the dry side. The recipe we adapted these from said to cut the lemon slices thin, but we found that thicker cut lemons worked better because there was more juice to squeeze over the dish once it was done. As far as the pepper butter, don’t be bashful. The more pepper the better. When it looks like you might have gone overboard, you’ve probably got enough.