Pancetta wrapped chicken starts with pounded thin chicken breast stuffed with cooked spinach, onions, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Chicken is then wrapped with pancetta and held together with toothpicks.
Pan sear the pancetta until it's golden brown and finish cooking the chicken in the oven at 375F for around 5 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165F.
Stuffing for Pancetta Wrapped Chicken
Any thing can be stuffed into pancetta wrapped chicken. This recipe calls for spinach, onions, garlic, and Parmesan cheese.
Let's say your having a long day and don't want to pull out the cutting board. Flavor the spinach with your favorite seasonings and add extra cheese. Done.
Cooking directions and time stay the same.
FYI - Pancetta is similar to bacon and needs to be cooked before consuming.
Tips For Pounding Chicken Thin
Buy 4 chicken breasts that you will cut through horizontally (like a book) to make 8 thinner pieces.
Lay out the halved chicken piece on a large cutting board and place a piece of plastic wrap over the top. Gently pound.
Keep the plastic wrap and layer the wrap between each piece of pounded chicken to store until ready to stuff.
Cooking Alternatives For Pancetta Chicken
Don't want to pan fry the pancetta wrapped chicken? Turn up the heat to 400F and bake in oven ~ 18-20 minutes, checking occasionally to see if pancetta is burning.
If it's still not browning then broil for a couple minutes but watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't burn. You will also want to make sure the chicken is cooked through or until internal temperature reaches 165F.
Things In My Kitchen:
- Meat Mallet - good for getting some aggression out and also making meat paper thin if needed.
- Toothpicks - affordable and a touch decorative.
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Pancetta Wrapped Chicken Breast
EatSimpleFood.com
Chicken breasts are pounded thin in this recipe with a meat mallet
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop / Oven
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts , halved and pounded thin (8 total pieces)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces spinach
- ½ cup onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 8 slices pancetta
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pinch pepper
- 16 toothpicks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Half each chicken breast horizontally (like a book) to get 8 total thinner pieces.
- Lay chicken breast on a cutting board and place a piece of plastic wrap over the top. Pound each piece of chicken thin with a meat mallet
(come on - get out that aggression!) and season with salt and pepper.
- Lay chicken out on cutting board and prepare spinach mixture.
- Bring a large pan to medium high heat and add the oil. When hot, add onions and cook ~ 3-4 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Lower heat and add spinach. Move around with tongs and cook for 2-3 minutes or until nearly wilted. Add Parmesan cheese, mix, and set aside.
- Evenly divide spinach mixture between each piece of chicken.
- Roll up chicken tightly and gently wrap a piece of pancetta around each cutlet. The pancetta may not be big enough to wrap around the whole cutlet - that's ok - just secure it with two toothpicks.
- Add oil to lightly coat a large skillet. Sear chicken (pancetta side down) ~ 2 ½ minutes or until brown. Flip and cook an additional 1 ½ minutes.
- Transfer to a baking pan or sheet and cook in the oven ~ 5 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F and juices run clear.
- Rest 5 minutes before eating. Add salt to taste. Happy Eating! Beckie
Notes
- Don't want to pan fry the chicken? Turn up the heat to 400F and bake in oven ~ 18-20 minutes, checking occasionally to see if pancetta is burning. If it's still not browning then broil for a couple minutes but watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't burn. You will also want to make sure the chicken is cooked through and internal temperatures reach 165F.
Serving Suggestion
Serve this Pancetta wrapped Chicken dish with complementary recipes like:
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Can you offer any tips on how to reheat leftovers of this dish without drying out the meat?
Great question Jeanne, - If you use the microwave, try a power level of 6 or 7 for a couple minutes and cover the dish with a vented plastic lid (making sure the meat doesn't touch the plastic). If you don't want to use the microwave, I would still cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven at 350F ~ 10 minutes or until warm. Hope that helps. Chicken breast is difficult to warm up, especially with the pancetta.