This is an elegant recipe, perfect to serve at a dinner party. Although preparing this dish is typically a more elaborate process, the method is streamlined here. The main secret to a tender dish that is cooked through is to pound the chicken breast out thin. It is then rolled up with a thin slice of ham, Swiss cheese, and a few toppings, and baked.
“Seasoned oat flour” keeps this dish gluten-free, although one can substitute bread crumbs for a more traditional preparation. (See note at bottom of recipe.) Serves 8.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 TBS. rolled oats*
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt*
- 1/2 tsp. sage*
- 1 tsp. onion flakes*
- 2 lb. chicken breast
- 1/3 lb. thin-sliced ham (or prosciutto)
- 8 oz. grated or thin-sliced Swiss cheese total (divided)
- Parsley, chopped, for garnish
PREPARATION
1. Make a seasoned “oat flour”, then set aside. For that, process until fine in a blender or food processor: > 2 TBS. rolled oats > 1/2 tsp. sea salt > 1/2 tsp. sage > 1 tsp. onion flakes
2. Butter or oil the bottom of a baking dish (approx. 15×11”).
3. Cut the chicken breast into portion sizes. Two pounds will make about eight 4-ounce servings. Use: > 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
4. Slip chicken breasts into a sturdy plastic bag to pound (which makes for easier clean-up). Pound each piece with a meat mallet; flatten to about 1/4-inch.
5. Set eight small pieces of Swiss cheese aside for topping. (Or about a third of the total.) On top of the chicken, layer ham, then Swiss cheese. Use: > 1/3 lb. thin-sliced ham > Approx. 5-6 oz. thin-sliced (or grated) Swiss cheese (reserving some)
6. Roll each piece up and place in baking dish, large enough for the rolled-up chicken to fit in without squishing, but without much space between each piece. This way, it will cook through but won’t dry out.
7. Sprinkle the seasoned oat flour on top of the chicken. Bake at 375 degrees about 20 minutes.
8. Top with remaining Swiss cheese and bake again for about 20 minutes, until cheese is nicely melted. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.
* For a more traditional version, substitute 1 c. bread crumbs for the oats, salt, sage and dried onion. Each portion of chicken/ham/Swiss then gets rolled in the bread crumbs and browned in some oil in a pan before baking for 20-30 minutes more.
This tasted delicious. However, it needed much more than 20 minutes to cook through, and therefore I would wait to add the cheese on top until the last ten minutes or so, otherwise it will melt and then dry out.
Marie, thank you so much for your input. I just changed the times on the recipe. I think that’s a great idea, letting the chicken cook a bit first, and then adding the cheese before baking some more.
Now that you mention it, I’m thinking this might be a good thing to serve over the holidays LOL… I’d almost forgotten about this recipe!