Chicken Involtini with Sweet Potato and Ginger Puree

I love this little chicken dish and the fact that it can be made the night before or well ahead is a bonus.
It is fabulous for a large group and I have often served it when entertaining a group of women. It is tasty and light goes a long way and never ceases to please. I usually serve it with a kumera mash but you could do a pumpkin, green pea, even  garlic potato. The last time I tried it with a cannelli bean and garlic mash and whilst it tasted great it didn't have a lot of plate appeal. The chicken looks better on a contrast colour. A green salad is all you need for an accompaniment and serve it with a drizzle of thickened stock or a veal demi glaze.

6  half chicken breasts { 2 breasts will feed 3 people even 4 if serving to women or small eaters so 6 breasts could potentially feed 18 but assume it will feed 12 and then there could be some left for seconds
18 pieces of prosciutto approx 3 pieces of a good prosciutto per breast
3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
90 grams toasted slivered almonds
1 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 cup chopped chives
1 cup parmesan cheese grated
1/2 cup pecorino grated
toothpicks
Glad bake

Puree

4 sweet potato
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup cream
2-3 tablespoons finely grated ginger
S+P


Boil the potatoes until tender. Mash with all the ingredients and set aside until serving. You can add more ginger if you like, more stock or less cream which will make it thinner.

Toast the almonds. Use a food processor to turn the bread into crumbs. Place in a bowl and mix in the herbs and cheese and toasted nuts.
Place a breast between two sheets of baking paper . Pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin. The paper stops it getting shredded to bits. You will end up with a flat quite large piece of chicken.
Lay three pieces of prosciutto on a sheet of paper or a board the same way to how you are going to roll it. Place a breast on top and spread some of the breadcrumb mixture on top leaving a little room free at the outer edges. Carefully roll the breast up as tightly as you can like a huge pinwheel. When you are finished secure it with toothpicks. You could also use cooking twine. It doesn't have to look really neat as it will be fine when cooked.
When finished all the breasts  wrap each one in a clean piece of baking paper  and roll the ends like a bon bon and put into a baking dish.
If not eating until later  place in the fridge.
Remove from the fridge about half an hour before you are ready to cook it. Heat the oven to 180C . Cook for about half an hour in the glad bake and then open the parcels  cook for a further 15 mins. This keeps the meat moist and gives it a bit of colour

Serve will a green salad of baby spinach, mint rocket and a bunch of cress. Toss the salad with lemon and olive oil and sea salt.

Flattened breast

Rolled with the prosciutto before securing with toothpicks

Leek and Prosciutto Risotto with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Leeks are plentiful at the moment and I love cooking with them. Risotto is not hard to make it just requires 20 minutes of your undivided attention with continual stirring. You can always pour yourself a big glass of wine and chat to your guests as you make it ! There are a number of oven bake risottos and I haven't tried this one in the oven , purely because I prefer to cook them the old fashioned way !
Although, some steps for this are done in the oven making it a little simpler.
I think the secret to a good risotto is a good strong stock and it must be boiling hot when it hits the rice to keep the cooking going. If you don't make your own there are many great stocks available in store these days other than a stock cube. But by all means use this if you have too, but keep in mind they are quite salty. Try a Massell stock powder instead !
If you prefer pancetta to prosciutto that is fine too, as long as they are thin slices.
How much stock to use is approximate, you may end up using slightly less or more. It doesn't matter. The important thing is for the risotto to be creamy, not too dry or too runny. Do not drown the rice in stock it should only be just covered maybe 1/4 cup at a time , absorb and repeat until done approx 18-20 minutes. This recipe will serve four, it is easy to increase amounts !



300 grams Arborio rice
1 large leek finely sliced
6 slices thin prosciutto
1/2 punnet cherry or truss tomatoes ( if they are small use the lot )
2 large cloves crushed garlic
1 litre chicken stock
80 grams butter
3/4 cup  white wine
2 tablespoons fresh or dried tarragon if fresh unavailable
1 cup finely grated Parmesan



Preheat oven to 180C. Place prosciutto and tomatoes on a baking paper, lined tray in the oven for approx 10 mins.
Remove from the oven and break the prosciutto into smallish pieces and set aside.
Place stock in a saucepan alongside the pan you are going to cook the risotto in and bring to the boil.
In the pan  you are cooking the risotto, melt 60 grams of the butter and saute the leek and the garlic with the wine, until soft.
Place the rice into the pan and stir to thoroughly coat in the butter, leek mixture.
Begin ladling the hot stock, about 1/4 cup at a time, and wait until totally absorbed until the next ladle of stock is added, keep repeating and stirring the whole time.
About 5 minutes before finishing, add the tarragon, and stir through.
When the rice is done, turn off the heat and add the prosciutto, the remaining butter, a twist of black pepper and gently toss the tomatoes through trying to keep them whole. If some break up that's fine, but it is quite nice when you are eating to get a burst of tomato every now and again.
Just be careful with salt content, prosciutto and parmesan and stock are all salty !
Serve at once with extra parmesan.