Chicken Breasts Wrapped in Pancetta
Chicken Breasts Wrapped in Pancetta is one of those, “you’ve no idea what to cook for dinner, little time to prepare, yet extremely tasty type of recipes you can always be confident to fall back on”.
The whole family will enjoy this, particularly whoever’s cooking. It’s so simple, takes little preparation and best of all it involves minimal washing up.
This recipe was handed down to me by my mother when I had just begun my journey of cooking daily for our small, growing family. The recipe was originally, chicken breasts wrapped in parma ham, stuffed with gorgonzola cheese. We used to polish off a whole breast each and they were pretty large breasts at that! However, four children later and thinking of the waistline as well as the pocket, I now find 3 medium to large sized breasts enough to feed a small family of six and still have some leftover for a salad or sandwiches later in the week.
I also no longer stuff my breasts with cheese and prefer using pancetta over parma ham. The higher fat content makes a tastier sauce for bread dipping. After all, the highlight of this dish is mopping up the juices with some warm crusty bread.
Chicken wrapped in pancetta has become a family staple served up at least once per month if not more.
Chicken Breasts Wrapped in Pancetta
Method:
First, prepare the breasts by wrapping in the pancetta.
Lay enough thinly sliced strips of pancetta on a sheet of baking paper, usually 5-6 strips is enough.
Place your chicken breast at one end.
Roll up with the help of the baking paper to get a nice tight wrap.
Once all your breasts are nicely wrapped up place them in a deep baking tray, drizzle with plenty of olive oil, a few twists of ground pepper, a handful of garlic cloves and a few sprigs of thyme.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you insert a skewer. Once cooked removed from the oven and let rest for 5-10m before slicing and serving.
Three large breasts is enough to feed two adults and four small kids, plus extra for a salad or sandwiches later in the week. Delicious served with rice, a salad and plenty of crusty bread to dip in the garlicky oil.
A delicious, quick and easy, mid-week dinner
- 3 Medium to large chicken breast skin removed
- 16 slices of very finely cut pancetta
- Olive oil
- 2 garlic bulbs
- A few sprigs of thyme
- salt & pepper to taste
-
First start by wrapping your chicken in the pancetta strips as show in the pictures.
-
Once wrapped place them in a deep baking tray and drizzle with plenty of olive oil.
-
Grind over some black pepper, add some sprigs of thyme and scatter the garlic cloves around. No need to peel the garlic.
-
Bake in the oven at 180C for 25-30 minutes. You can tell the chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer, the juices should run clear.
-
once cooked, remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and let sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
-
Serve with a nice green salad and rice and plenty of crusty bread for mopping up the juices and squishing the roasted garlic cloves.
Yum!
Glad you like it John!
This is absolutely delicious and kids couldn’t get enough….. haven’t cooked it in a while. Hmmmm this or the Salmon en Croute first?
Thank you so much Helen, glad you liked it. This dish is usually well like by kids and adults alike. Simple too!
This sounds and looks delicious. I’m lookinhbforeard to trying this once my hubby and I are in the same country !