In the Kitchen with Jamie Oliver’s Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Posh Ham

So I had chicken breast in the freezer and needed a recipe that wasn’t going to dry out the breast. I hate dry chicken. Who likes eating cardboard? I had bacon as well and thought, what the hey, let’s make some juicy bacon fat invested chicken.

I should preface this by saying my chicken DID NOT turn out like Mr. Jamie’s. In fact, it looked completely different. And for that, I wasn’t inclined to take pics! But it tasted delish nonetheless. Details on why my chicken parm turned pear shaped below under REVIEW.

Jamie Oliver’s Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Posh Ham

2 Servings

This is a great way to prepare chicken breasts. The texture of the crisp cooked prosciutto goes brilliantly with the tender chicken. Bashing the chicken out thinly before you start cooking means it cooks much faster than a regular chicken breast. If you can’t get hold of prosciutto, then any kind of thin ham, such as Parma ham, or even smoked streaky bacon will work just as well.

Ingredients

2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 skinless chicken breast filets, preferably free-range or organic
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon
1 ¼ ounces grated Parmesan
6 slices of prosciutto
Olive oil

Preparation

To prepare your chicken: Grate your Parmesan. Pick the thyme leaves off the stalks. Carefully score the underside of the chicken breasts in a criss-cross fashion with a small knife. Season with a little pepper (you don’t need salt as the prosciutto is quite salty). Lay your breasts next to each other and sprinkle over most of the thyme leaves. Grate a little lemon zest over them and sprinkle with Parmesan. Lay 3 prosciutto slices on each chicken breast overlapping them slightly. Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves. Put a square of plastic wrap over each breast and give them a few really good bashes with the bottom of a saucepan until they are about ½ inch thick.

To cook your chicken: Put a frying pan over a medium heat. Remove the plastic wrap and carefully transfer the chicken breasts, prosciutto side down, into the pan. Drizzle over some olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, turning halfway through giving the ham side an extra 30 seconds to crisp up.

To serve your chicken: Either serve the chicken breasts whole or cut them into thick slices and pile them on a place. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over and a good drizzle of olive oil. Lovely with mashed potatoes and green veggies or a crunchy salad.

Review

As mentioned above, my chicken parm didn’t look like the pic. I used bacon instead of prosciutto and that that turned everything to a hot mess. The bacon didn’t stick to the chicken and it just fell apart. It ended up being chicken with crispy bacon on the side. Though Mr. Jamie suggests you can use regular bacon, I recommend that it be wrapped and secured tightly. Next time, I will definitely use prosciutto.

Recipe from JamieOlver.com

In the Kitchen with Jamie Oliver’s Delicious Chicken Pot Pie

I’ve always wanted to make a chicken pot pie. I found a delicious recipe on a bunch of blogs but couldn’t find it anywhere on JamieOliver.com. So I’m hoping it’s actually a Jamie Oliver recipe. I also found two other recipes from Nigella (which you know will be tasty) and the another from Barefoot Contessa, which I wasn’t too sure about. But for rustic British grub, Jamie Oliver is always someone I can count on. His food is so homely and delicious – it was exactly what I was looking for. This recipe has a twist, it also includes sausages! You don’t have to add it but it’s oh so good! I’ve also made adjustments to the recipe, not a lot, but a tiny bit. Sorry for the lack of pics on this one! I was a bit preoccupied 😉