Escalopes de poulet farcies à la pancetta, olives et herbes, sauce moutarde légumes racines sautés au sel de lavande

pouletroule4web

pouletroule2web

Chicken and pancetta are good friends…they make wonderful combinations. These delicious roulades are not really related to the Italian saltimbocca. Actually I started with the idea of the saltimbocca, and after thinking and thinking and thinking way too much about rolling some chicken breasts, I ended up with this, but stuffed with olives and herbs and served with a sauce bien relevée à la moutarde, (relevé means enhanced). I like to combine white meats and mustard, it’s the perfect condiment that enhances the flavor of white meats.  I like to serve those roulades with sauteed parsnips and potatoes in olive oil lightly salted with lavender salt. I love parsnips, they’re delicious in soups but sauteed as well. Actually, parsnips are parsley roots, and if you really pay attention to their flavor, you can really taste an after taste of parsley.  They give a wonderful flavor to soups and are low in calories, so they can be easily substitute to potatoes.

Ingredients for 2 (1 chicken breast makes 3 rolls cut in 3 = 9 pieces)

  • 1 chicken breast
  • 10 slices pancetta (2 for rolling each chicken roll, the rest is for stuffing)
  • 1 rosemary sprigs
  • 4 sage leaves
  • 1 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • salt and pepper

For the shallot wine sauce

  • 1 large shallot
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tarragon sprig
  • 1 tsp white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • salt and pepper

For the potatoes and parsnips

  • 2 medium sized red potatoes
  • 1 large parsnip
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • lavender salt
  • pepper

Preparation

Take one large chicken breast and with a knife slice the breast crosswise, trying to get 3 thin slices. Pound with a meat pounder to make them as thin as possible. Add salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the chopped rosemary, sage, olives, pancetta, garlic. Mix well and spread the mixture on top of chicken slices. Roll the slices and wrap the remaining pancetta around the chicken roll. With a kitchen thread, tie around each roll so that everything stays in its place.

In a pan, add olive oil and saute the chicken rolls until they get golden color and cooked in the inside but still moist. Remove from pan and keep warm.

In the same pan, add shallots and brown them for about 7-10 min at medium heat. Add wine, vinegar, tarragon, and let reduce. When the sauce is reduced, add the mustard. Stir well.

In the meantime, peel the parsnips, and cut crosswise in slices. Wash and cut the potatoes in slices about the same thickness as parsnips. Saute cut vegetables in olive oil and brown them. At the end, add lavender salt and pepper.

Remove thread from chicken rolls. and cut each roll in 3 pieces. Serve with vegetables and sauce on top.