Back in the ’60’s in San Francisco, there was an Italian restaurant on Green Street where I first tasted Veal Saltimbocca. I would go there often with my now ex-sister-in-law and/or her family. My brother was in the Navy at the time and Chris and I were almost inseperable friends back then.
I’ll be damned if I can remember the name of the place after all these years, but I do remember just how wonderful that dish was.
So tonight’s chicken saltimbocca wasn’t quite those succulent rolls of veal, sage, and prosciutto from years past, but I have ta tell ya – it was pretty darned good!
This was a Thursday night dinner. It wasn’t company coming, it wasn’t all fancy-schmancy, it was just dinner with a bit of an Olympic twist.
I pounded the breasts and layed out fresh sage leaves and prosciutto. I took a small piece of Italian truffle cheese and rolled it into a piece of prosciutto, and then rolled the chicken around it. I browned them in a bit of olive oil, and then into a hot oven for about 10 minutes. I deglazed the pan with marsalla, and then whisked in a couple of pats of butter.
In the meantime, I made a simple white and wild rice pilaf, and there was a nice big bowl of fresh from the garden tomato salad in the ‘fridge.
Plated everything, drizzled the pan sauce over the chicken, and dinner was served!