Preview: Chicken Saltimbocca

I make this dish once a week and everyone loves it, even my 3-year old daughter. It's really "so good, it jumps in your mouth".....

Eveline

What can I use for a substitute for the wine, would white balsimic vinegar work?

If you must omit the white wine then I think you should just deglaze the pan with a bit of chicken stock. The white balsamic might be a bit too much....but you could certainly try it.

The addition of the fruit and acidity from the wine can really make the dish but always having wine on hand for cooking is sometimes a pain, especially because it doesn't keep once its open.
What I do is keep a bottle of dry white vermouth in the cupboard. It keeps for several weeks after opening, its inexpensive, and has the flavour and acidity to elevate your recipe. Just keep in mind that it has a stronger flavour and higher alcohol than a standard table wine so take that into consideration. Don't use as much and simmer it a little longer to burn off the alc. I especially like it in Risotto.

... it seemed to me that the sage is really a key to the recipe. Maybe my sage leaves weren't 'large' enough, but after making it once, my only thought was to add additional sage to the sauce (dry? chopped leaves?). I'll give it a shot with v2.0 tonight and see what happens.

I made this last night. It was delicious and did not take too long to make. The prosciutto makes a nice seal over the cheese so everything stays in place quite nicely as it cooks. I served this with the lemon parmesan orzo, which is one of my favourites, and a side of steamed green and yellow beans. Yummy!!! My husband really liked it with the cheese as alot of recipes for saltimboca don't call for it.

Definitely a keeper.

Oh my, were my ladies at my monthly lunch gatherings impressed with this recipe. Being a roast beef and potatoes cook, I found your video so very helpful Dawn. Even Jack, who does most of the cooking, was impressed with what I accomplished. Walking one through each step is really helpful. As I say, it was a hit!!! Many thanks for your help I told the ladies all about you guys!

Have a wonderful holiday, and Merry Christmas!

Sheelagh O'Donnell

Great! learn another chicken dish. The combination of air-dry ham, chesse and the juice frim the chicken give it a unique taste. May I know a little history of this dish and also at the end of the recipe ,Lemon Parmasen Orzo and Lemon Garlic Rapini,it's a side dish that compliment the chicken?

Thank
Alex

Translated, Saltimbocca means "jumps in the mouth". It is a popular dish in southern Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Greece and can be made of veal, chicken or pork, lined or topped with prosciutto and sage. This dish is also occasionally topped with capers depending on individual taste.

And yes, the Orzo and Rapini make great side dishes and can be found in our recipe gallery.

I tried to hold true to the recipe; I had trouble finding the cheese asked for in the recipe. I substituted a bree and gargonzola mixure that worked just fine. This recipe is soo good. I would not have known how to do this without the video.
Rouxbe rocks!!!
Make this dish, you will love it.

I tried this and my wife loved it. The video really helps with each step.
Looks great too with the dark prosciutto on top. I will certainly serve it again.
The videos are the next best thing to having Tony there with you.

David C

This was a wonderful dish.
I have to remember to watch the heat of the pan as it got a bit smoky on me, but all in all a very tasty meal!
We also loved the orzo. The flavor of the lemon and mint in the orzo balanced the robust flavor of the saltimbocca.

Cabozola cheese is one of my favorites and I must say that the pairing of it with the procuitto was a delicious combination. The only thing that I found was that the lemon juice was a bit overpowering. The next time, I will add a little lemon juice and then taste, as I found that the lemon was almost too much. All in all, it is definitely a dish I will make again and my only adjustment would be the lemon.

Great dish! One of the best chicken recipe I have made. The cheese is so mellow cooked this way. The taste of the chicken, chesse and prosciutto is out of this world. I would recommend it to anyone and it was very easy to make. So happy, I have found your site. i am anxious to try more of your recipes.

Nicole Simon
January 22, 2007

I found this recipe dead simple with terrific results, thanks Tony and the Rouxbe team. A great quick meal to impress friends when your pressed for time.

I only had regular salted butter on hand and Asian chicken stock (higher sodium) and when combined with the cured prosciutto and cambozola found the dish bordered on over-salted.

I served this with traditional Italian risotto in stead of orzo, but on reflection think it would be better paired with some fresh, crunchy veggies. Next time I may try the suggested rapini dish, though I'm tempted to find something to add contrast rather than so complimentary (both dishes contain garlic, butter, lemon, salt).

Wonderful version of saltimboca. I have made it a few times and tried substituting other cheeses, but the cambozola is the best. I have tried to double it for a dinner party, but it was not as good and required too much stove time for a company meal, so I am going to try a make ahead version.

Thank you for this wonderful recipe, my girlfriend and I really enjoyed it. I used gorgonzola cheese instead of cambozola because I couldn't find it here where I live (Mexico) but it tourned out delicious as well, I was just careful with the salt because gorgonzola is saltier. It made our special dinner even more special.

First of all, let me just say that I am a big fan of the site having just discovered it last weekend. I've made three rouxbe recipes this week and my husband enjoyed all of them. The videos are amazing. Couldn't have done this recipe without the video. It was helpful knowing how to slice the chicken and place the prosciutto and cheese.

My store did not have cambozola cheese. So I tried the Farmstead Blue Cheese from Point Reyes. The taste was good, but I was frustrated that the cheese was too sticky and crumbly so that it was difficult to place on the chicken. I think next time I will try the Blue Castello. Any other cheese substitute recommendations?

For some reason, I got a lot of brown encrusted bits in my pan that I ended up having to throw out because they were too hard and big, although I was able to incorporate some of them into the sauce.

Also, since the prosciutto was already plenty salty, I would skip seasoning the chicken with more salt, as was shown in the video. It seems that no extra salt is needed for the sauce either! The lemon juice was fine. I got points for presentation and it definitely felt like a fancy chicken dish at a restaurant!

So glad you have been having success Christie, here are a few other suggestions for cheeses.

Blue castello (as you suggested), bleu bresse, which are both creamy and mild. You could also use brie or camembert cheese, these are also creamy and mild, but they lack that subtle blue cheese note. If there is a local cheese shop near you, they will definitely be able to guide you in the right direction.

BTW - the brown encrusted bits where likely the result of the type of cheese you used. Happy Cooking!

Thank you for the lesson, and this dish is delicious! I'm on my way to becoming a domestic goddess at last!

Tried this for a special dinner. It was so good. This is the first time I've had cambozola cheese and really enjoyed it, and am snacking on the leftover portion. I'm so happy I found this site, as I'm not in a locale that offers any cooking lessons to speak of.

I am confused about the different temperatures to cook at. I know you heat the pan at medium high but do you cook the chicken at this temperature? And, what temperature do you make the sauce with? Thanks!

-Very new to cooking if you can't tell :)

My suggestion would be to watch the lesson on Pan Frying

This should provide you with some guidance. Make sure to watch topic 5, which is called how to control pan temperature.

Good luck! Hope this helps answer some questions for you.

I always save white wine left overs (amazingly so, that happens) as ice cubes in the freezer. The wine can then be used for cooking, eg. Saltimbocca.

Made this for guests and it is really a wow. The cooking of the meat doesn't take much time but the reducing and sauce took a little longer than I anticipated. Although supper was a tad late, served with the amazing potato gratin receipe....well...I was a superstar!

This was the first recipe I tried after joining Rouxbe because I love Saltimbocca Alla Romana and this was so close. I had all the ingredients except the chicken. I had pork and so did everything using pork. It was a little different of course but the flavors were still there and sooo good. I made this for the entire family and everyone raved about it. My 10 year old daughter asked if we could have it every week at least once. So, there you go. Definitely a keeper and am loving Rouxbe. I've been cooking and experimenting with things, watching cooking shows but so far, I have learned a great deal and after watching the videos, I usually have one of those. ah haa! moments, run to the kitchen and ask a family member if they would like a poached egg, or maybe an Alsation onion tart for the heck of it.

Thank you very much for all the wonderful videos.
Ana

with the Tenderloin?

Many things! You can use them in stir-frys, bread them and fry them for chicken fingers, bake them, grill them, put them in salads and quesadillas - really anywhere that you would use chicken breasts.

I made this recipe and was pretty disappointed. I am sure it is something I did. The cheese (i used Blue Castello) was terribly bitter and tasted like feet smell. The chicken and prosciutto cooked perfectly. The sauce was also bitter. Any ideas? I have never had these cheese before but have had other less common cheese and usually like them. Any ideas what went wrong? Thanks for your help! Love the school by the way!

I imagine like you said it was the cheese. If you say it was "bitter and tasted like feet smell", then I am guessing it was the cheese. It could have been off or past its prime, which would account for the bitter or off taste in the entire dish.

I would say try this dish again (with a different cheese) as it is a delicious dish.

would using a nonstick pan mess with the deglazing process?

Stainless-steel pans tend to create better sucs, but you can still deglaze non-stick pans. Just be sure to use a tool that won't scratch the non-stick surface to lift the sucs. You can find more information in the lessons on Pan Frying and Pan Sauces.

This recipe is fabulous all around, and will be made many more times. It was excellent with a side salad consisting of organic Arugula, toasted pine nuts, and a light home-made bleu cheese vinaigrette dressing, crusty french bread and a glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc! CHEERS to the Rouxbe staff for this winner!

Could anyone suggest another cheese to use? I intend on making this later this week but I'm afraid of all the blue cheese types that are bitter and have a strong odor/taste. I mainstream cheese I like are america, mozzarella, and cheddar. Can anyone help?

Thanx.

Sliced mozzarella, fontina or even brie would be nice. This dish is delicious! Happy cooking!

Gredg I just wanted to say, don't be "afraid of all the blue cheese types that are bitter and have a strong odor/taste" as there are many that do not taste or even smell too bitter or strong. For instance the cambozola cheese in this recipe is very mellow. It is more like a brie cheese with a bit of mellow blue cheese throughout.

I say buy just a bit and try it. Come on live on the wild side :-)

I'm in love with the cambozola. It was a bit difficult for me to find in the local grocers, but what a wonderful taste! This dish was great. I found myself wishing I had more of the sauce.

My husband and I LOVED this recipe! I used Fontina cheese instead as I couldn't find cambozola in the grocery store.

Wow. Was really impressed with the flavours in this one. You can't really go wrong with prosciutto, sage and butter. I tried to pull off the rapini and orzo all at once and, well, not everything came out perfectly. The saltimbocca was awesome though. Next time I would have a better sense for the timing of each dish. Any tips in general for pulling off two or three dishes to finish at once?

Jamie I think you sort of answered yourself on this one. Timing really comes down to practice and setting yourself up with your mise en place. Get yourself as set up as possible before you start cooking. That means get your pans ready, get the water in the pot (if using) etc etc. The more you prep and set yourself up before and even for after you are done (platters, dishes etc) the more success you will have. Hope this helps!

Glad you like the dish. Cheers!

In the text recipe, it says to make sure the pan is still shiny with oil, adding more if needed, and then to add the wine, garlic, etc.

In the video (which I'm guessing is correct), the comment about the pan still being shiny with oil is referring to cooking the second batch of chicken, and you are instructed to pour the oil out of the pan before adding the wine (off the heat) and then the garlic....

The video and text may not always be exactly the same as cooking is never exactly the same...sometimes you may need less or more oil depending on what is happening in the pan at that particular time. Basically what I am saying is that cooking is about being flexible and just being aware of what is happening with the ingredients in the pan at any given time.

The video in this case was showing you what was happening in the pan at the time we were cooking the dish and the text is there to provide more general guidelines.

Hope this helps to clarify things for you. Cheers!

I'm still a bit confused. In the text version of the recipe, you potentially add oil before you deglaze; at the very least, you leave whatever oil is already in the pan. Why do you want oil in the pan to deglaze?

The text has been changed to avoid any potential confusion. The additional oil is needed to cook the second batch, if necessary. You might find it helpful to review the lesson on "How to Make a Pan Sauce". This dish follows that method and the lesson will help you understand the steps in order to make any pan sauce. Cheers!

Hi,

I'm thinking the reason for the bitterness as mentioned earlier was the cheese. I used cambozola. (had never heard of it before) It was firm on the outside, but in the middle it was really soft like too soft and I had to put it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up after I cut it. Your cheese looked firm all the way through. The cheese was room temperature by the time I cooked it.

Also the problem with the dark sauce might have been the heat not high enough? I had a huge amount of dark, (not burned) melted cheese in the bottom of the skillet. A lot more than you had on the video. So I made the sauce anyway.

My only complaint was the bitterness and saltiness. My prosciutto was paper thin and tore as I tried to pry it apart.

I fried the chicken tenderloins first for my kid thinking he wouldn't go for the cheese and prosciutto. I tossed them into the sauce at the end and they tasted amazing. Go figure.

If my heat was too low, would that cause all that cheese to run onto the pan before it was time to flip them? Or could my heat have been spot on and I just flipped them too late?

I'm thinking it was caused by my temperature being too low. Does this make sense?

Are some brands of prosciutto saltier than others? I only put a little kosher salt on the chicken side before I fried them.

Please advise.

Thanks!

I used bacon instead of the suggested meat, however, it turned out beautiful and was delicious. Thanks for teaching me all of the great techniques I used to prepare this fantastic dish.

Hey,

Great recipe, turned out well. My timing was awful, kitchen was a mess, but overall tasted nice, and chicken was cooked fantastically. Definitely a dish that takes a bit of practice to get perfect. Thanks a lot Rouxbe team :)

Glad you liked the dish Lachy. Regarding your messy kitchen, it is funny how messy things can get the first time we make things but it is also equally surprising after making the same dish a few times just how efficient (and clean) we become. Keep up the good work and practice. Cheers!

Thanks Dawn, sorry to hijack the thread, might be better if their was some PM sort of functionality(I might just not be able to find it!)... I'm pretty young, trying to get better at something I'm passionate about. I want to do a lot more cooking, but have little time on my hands, what do you recommend to get skills up? Less time consuming / impactful dishes?

Hi! Why is it important to a) remove the tenderloin part, and b) cut the chicken into pieces on an angle (rather than straight)?

The tenderloin is removed because it would otherwise fall off during cooking. We cut the chicken into pieces because it is easier to flatten the tapered edge and you get a bigger piece due to how it is cut in the first place. Cheers!

Made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! One of the best Italian chicken dishes I've ever made. My husband won't eat moldy cheeses, so I subbed Provolone, and it was still fabulous. Thanks for the recipe!
Nancy

I tried this dish twice. The first one was a bit overcooked, but the second dish was done beautifully. My girlfriend and I loved it.

btw, I wonder what is the usual suspect for too much smoke when you are pan frying. The only issue I had with this dish was the smoke from pan frying saltimbocca. Thick smoke filled in my apartment on both occasions and the fire alarm went off even though I have had the kitchen fan turned on and the windows open during the entire processes. (There has never been this much smoke when I was pan frying steaks. I didn't even need to turn on the kitchen fan!) I used olive oil the first time, and grape seed oil the second time.

Sounds like your pan might be a bit too hot. Once you test the pan using the water test and after adding the food, you can always adjust the heat and turn it down. It shouldn't smoke this much. Grapeseed oil is a better choice as it likely has a higher smoke point than your olive oil. The lesson on pan frying covers many of these questions you ask. Keep on cooking and monitoring the heat. Cheers!

One of the hardest things for me to remember when I was learning how to pan fry was to turn the heat down, then back up as needed.

Just remember, when you first put the meat in, it lowers the temperature of the pan, then it heats back up, then you flip and it comes down a little, then back up.

It's a little nerve racking when you first start learning but with practice you'll be a pro in no time.

I still filled the house with smoke the other night. Practice, practice, practice.

One little trick I use that may not be approved by Rouxbe is when I see my temperature is too high and taking it off the heat isn't going to cool it down fast enough, I add some grape seed oil to the pan in the areas where there is no meat. This usually does the trick until bringing it off the heat cools it down.

Bon Appetit!

Thank you for your helpful comments Kimberley and Jude. Now I can do this without filling my apartment with smoke!

I have another question, btw. Is there any reason I want to use chicken breast instead of other meat, for example, chicken thigh? I often find myself enjoying thigh more than breast, so I guess it would be a good idea to try with thigh. Also, I suppose that it is easier to overcook with breast meat. But I would like to know if other people prefer breast meat to thigh meat for this dish, and if so, why.

Thanks!

I have no idea but...

I'll bet this is delicious with thigh meat. I say get creative and just watch the heat as some meats may take longer to cook?

Best wishes and let us know how the dark meat comes out!

This dish is ideally made with chicken breasts as they are quick to cook through. You can give it a try with pounded chicken thighs though. The presentation may not look as nice and it will take longer to cook the meat through (you'll need to cook the second side longer because the first side may overcook/burn the proscuitto), but feel free to give it a try. Cheers!

I tried this dish tonight and it turned out pretty good....a few questions...I am cooking with an Anodized pan on a Fisher Paykle Electric cooktop....I got a pretty good suc but I didn't think my reduction looked too syrupy...nor after I reduced the stock...is that because of the pan?
Also..I thought the video looked like more than 1 clove of garlic..can I add a little more.
Also....Is the sauce suppose to have a subtle lemon taste or a significant..or is that up to you....if I put the 1/2 lemon in, it seemed strong.
I'll try this again...my chicken breasts were organic and a little on the small side, so I thought my pcs were a bit small.
I love the videos. Thanks.

In terms of a reduction, the pan won't make a difference. Just let the wine reduce a bit further next time. The wine won't be super syrupy, but the further it reduces, the more concentrated it will become. A good, homemade stock will have enough gelatin in it to become syrupy/thicker once it is reduced. If you used a store-bought stock, it is harder (if not impossible) to obtain a thick, sauce-like consistency....even if you really reduce the liquid. Store-bought stocks simply don't contain enough gelatin to produce restaurant-quality sauces.

In terms of flavorings, absolutely, this is where you as the cook can use a little bit more or less to suit your tastes. Feel free to add more garlic, and add lemon juice to taste. Add a bit of juice...taste...and add a bit more if you think it needs some. I bought a lemon the other day and I actually got 1/2 cup of juice out of it!!! So, knowing how much to add "to taste" is important.

It just comes down to practice. Many cooks feel they should have a perfect dish the first time they make it. It takes practice and small tweaks to consistently get it to where you want it to be. Hope this helps! Cheers!

Oh my! What an amazing sauce. I couldn't find Cambozola cheese, so I just use classic Blue Cheese. Oh wow! It was an amazing looking meal, and smelled terrific. I found the sauce was too salty, even tho' I was careful to not add any salt. I suspect the blue cheese and cooking wine (wine with salt added) was the problem. So, in order to cut the saltiness, I whipped up some additional veloute (without salt) and added a little cream to it, and re-heated the chicken pieces in it ... oh my! hmm hmm hmm.

The presentation was spectacular, and the dish was a real hit. I will definitely be making this again, and experimenting with different cheeses. The blue was surprisingly delicious, but a little overpowering.

Nice work Leigh, you sure are getting this whole cooking thing. Way to improvise and tweak as you went along.

I agree that the blue cheese can be strong and sometimes overpowering. Be sure to try the cambazola one time and you will see how lovely it is. It's just a lot more mellow, yet it still has big flavor.

Keep up the good work!

Before I start can I just say I love this website! I've been using a few of the techniques on other dishes I cook regularly with success but today I thought I would try a recipe.

The chicken was cooked perfectly. I normally avoid pan frying chicken because by the time it was fully cooked it was dry. It never occurred to me to slice the breast thinner (hey I never claimed to be smart!) the sauce (my very first attempt at a pan sauce - I normally boil a kettle and get out the gravy granules) was nice but salty. I think I had also left too much of the melted cheese in the pan as it overpowered the sauce. I did remove most of it - I just underestimated how strong it was. I tried using extra garlic and a shallot to take the edge off but no luck. It turned out ok. It was too salty but that was my own daft fault. First of all I didn't check the salt content in the bought stock. Secondly I couldn't get hold of the right cheese so I used Brie which might have had a higher salt content. Thirdly I misremembered what I was supposed to do to the garlic and puréed it with salt. Oops. I'll know better next time. That's the great thing about cooking: if you mess it up it's still edible (most of the time!)

Thanks again for the lesson. Loved it.

One of the most effective ways at learning to become a better cook is to fine tune your observation skills. You draw great conclusions from this exercise David. You are on the path to better cooking for sure.

One other thing that might have lead to this being a bit over salty is the prosciutto which can tend to be a bit salty. But most likely it was your stock or the amount of salt you added. Practice makes perfect.

BTW... you should try making your own chicken stock and comparing the results. This way you have full control of the salt factor.

Cheers, Joe.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to successfully make this dish or if I would like it. I've never had proscuitto before. It came out great. I couldn't fine the cheese, so I used some Brie on a couple pieces and then some Havarti on the others. They were really good.

I joined Rouxbe in August and I am only just now able to start taking advantage of it. I'm going through some of the pan frying practice recipes. So far, I've done the Chicken Marsla, the Caprese-Style steak and this recipe. The chicken marsala was good; I overcooked the steak; and this was great.

So glad I joined. I am feeling more confident with each try.

Joanne

That is great to hear Joanne - keep up the good work. Cheers!

I made this tonight and I love it which totally took me by surprise. I don't like many cheeses. I used the camembert (thinly sliced of course) because I couldn't find the cheese in the recipe. I won't be eating the cheese alone yet but made this way I will definitely make again with the camembert.

Thanks for the great recipe!!