Chicken involtino, artichokes, polenta and caponata

Chicken involtino, artichokes, polenta and caponata

Ingredients:

Chicken involtino

4 globe artichokes

4 chicken Maryland (350 grams each), deboned & skin removed

6 rosemary sprigs

6 sage leaves

50 grams Taleggio cheese, grated

16 thin slices (about 150 grams) pancetta

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 bay leaves

salt and pepper, to taste

 

Polenta

½ cup polenta

25 grams butter

¼ cup warm milk

50 grams parmiggiano cheese, grated

salt

 

Caponata

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ red? chilli, finely chopped long

4 very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 small eggplant, roughly chopped

1 red capsicum, roughly chopped

20 pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped

½ cup roughly chopped basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper, to taste

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Clean artichokes and cut hearts into quarters. Add artichoke hearts to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 3 minutes, remove from the water and set aside in cold water to stop cooking.

Lay chicken flat  flatten the thigh out slightly so that the piece of chicken is all one thickness, whoch ensures equal cooking timeand sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon each finely chopped rosemary and sage, reserving the remaining herbs. Sprinkle with Taleggio cheese and season with salt and pepper. Add cooked artichoke hearts and roll the chicken up. Cover the outside of each chicken roll with 4 slices pancetta. Tie securely with cooking string.

Add olive oil to a frypan and place over high heat. Add the rolled up chicken and fry until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add remaining rosemary remaining sage?), garlic, and bay leaves and transfer to the oven there is enough oil in the fry pan for the herbs to caramalise and just infise the oil the chicken is cooking in. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside to rest.

To make polenta, place polenta in a small saucepan with 250 mls water and place over medium heat. Stir until combined, then and add 250 mls of boiling water. Stir every few minutes until the polenta has absorbed all the water and the polenta is soft, about 30 minutes. Add butter, milk and cheese and stir until smooth. Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Meanwhile, to make the Caponata, add olive oil to a saucepan and place over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, eggplant and capsicum and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about another 10 minutes. Add the olives, basil, oregano and sugar and cook on a low heat until all combined and cooked through, about another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

To serve, place a spoonful of polenta on each plate, remove string and slice chicken and place on top of polenta, drizzle with caponata sauce.

Serves 4