Beans, Burns & Chicken

Tonights dinner menu was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  I decided that I wanted to try some new recipes that I've never made before and was hoping to get a winner out of at least one of them, I think all three placed on the podium and I would definitely recommend them. 

Fresh Basil, Parsley & Thyme for tonight's dinner:)

Here's a look at tonight's menu:

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Herbed Ricotta, from Rachael Ray's website, this recipe was also featured in the February 2012 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray.

Garlic, Basil & Parmesan Quinoa, from Sarah's Cucina Bella, a great blog for healthy eating.

Green Beans with Prosciutto, from Deliciously Organic, one of my favorite blogs to find inspirational recipes and information about eating healthy. 

It's been a pretty long day, Aaron & I were up late last night watching Sons of Anarchy...I'll admit it, I'm hooked on this show, so I'm not going to give you a step by step of all three recipes.  That being said, I did take some decent pics, well decent for me anyways, so I'll give you the quick breakdown of the chicken and since I know I'll be cooking them again I'll do the quinoa and green beans another day:)

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Herbed Ricotta

1/2 c. Ricotta
Salt & Pepper
3 tbsp Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 small Garlic Clove, minced
1 tbsp Finely Chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
A few leaves of Basil, chopped
A couple sprigs of fresh Thyme, finely chopped
4 small pieces boneless, skinless Chicken Breast, butterflied

I cheated a bit here, since it was just Connor, January & me, I used 2 Chicken
Breasts cut in half & then butterflied...not as nice presentation wise, but it worked.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling
4 Thin Slices Prosciutto Di Parma
Splash of White Wine
1 tbsp Butter

To start it off, preheat the oven to 400F.

Put the ricotta in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, parsley, basil and thyme.

 

Next up, spoon some of the ricotta mixture onto each of the butterflied chicken pieces and fold it in half.

 

Drizzle each chicken piece with olive oil and then wrap it with a slice of the prosciutto.

 

Now drizzle some olive oil in an ovenproof skillet and heat over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken pieces and brown them, turning once for about 4-6 minutes.

 

 

Toss the pan into your preheated oven and finish cooking the chicken for about 12-15 minutes or until you reach an internal temperature of 160F.

 

**Carefully** remove the pan from the oven and plate the chicken pieces.  Add a splash of wine to the pan to deglaze it and then toss in the butter and swirl it around.  Pour this over the chicken before you serve it.

 

I wish I had some pictures of the last step but this is where the "burn" part of the title comes in.  As I was pouring the wine and tossing in the butter, I had January hanging off my leg and Connor sitting in the living room yelling for me.  Needless to say, I grabbed the pan...yes, I grabbed the pan that I had just pulled out of a 400F oven.  I won't tell you what came out of my mouth, lets just say I owe money to the swear jar.  I'm so thankful to my Gramma Smith for giving me an aloe vera plant this summer, it came in handy tonight!!

 

THANKS A MILLION GRAMMA!!

After finally putting dinner on the table and sitting down to eat I thought to myself, this had better be one super, fan-freakingtastic dinner...thankfully it was:) January inhaled her dinner, seeing as she has an appetite like me, it didn't surprise me but Connor loved the chicken and even ate the green beans and quinoa with no major hassles, which if you know Connor, dinner time can be a little time consuming some nights so this was a nice change. 

 

These pictures really don't do any justice, all my pictures were coming out way to dark, my camera was dying and I'll be honest, my finger hurt and I just wanted so sit down and eat so I'm making do with what I have:)