Arugula, Prosciutto & Gruyere-Stuffed Chicken with Caramelized Shallot Sauce

Alternate post title: Why I am not a recipe writer!

This recipe has been on my "list" for quite a while, and now that I have fresh arugula from the garden, I thought it was time to try it. However, I didn't exactly follow the recipe and therefore am sharing two takes on this dish - my version and the original Cooking Light recipe. The biggest difference is that I left out a few sauce ingredients - I didn't want to use cornstarch and I didn't think tomato paste would really be a good addition. If anyone tries the original version with tomato, let me know how you like it (and sorry for the imprecision of my version of the recipe)!

Arugula, Prosciutto & Gruyere-Stuffed Chicken with Caramelized Shallot Sauce - my way:

Pound out 2 chicken breasts to 1/4-inch thickness (I accomplish this by wrapping them in wax paper and beating with a rolling pin). Top half of each piece of chicken with a couple slices Gruyere cheese, a few arugula leaves, and a piece of prosciutto. Fold the other half of the piece of chicken over the "toppings" and attempt to press together the edges. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over both sides of chicken. Dredge chicken in flour; shake off excess.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken to skillet. Brown approximately 5 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a baking dish and place in preheated oven. Bake approximately 10 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Meanwhile, saute thinly sliced shallots in original skillet (add extra olive oil if necessary). When shallots have browned, pour in a little dry white wine (use something you'd actually drink, not the cheapest bottle you can find - I used Pinot Grigio), then add a little chicken stock. Boil until reduced by half. Pour onions/sauce over chicken breasts to serve.

The original recipe from Cooking Light:

Chicken:
6 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 (1/2-ounce) slices prosciutto
6 (1/2-ounce) slices Gruyère cheese
1 1/2 cups trimmed arugula
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sauce:
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 cups dry white wine
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare the chicken, place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Discard plastic wrap. Top each chicken breast half with 1 slice prosciutto, 1 slice cheese, and 1/4 cup arugula, leaving a 1/4-inch border around edges. Fold in half, pinching edges together to seal; sprinkle with salt and pepper. (The chicken can be prepared up to a day ahead and refrigerated at this point.)

Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes on each side. Place chicken in a shallow baking pan; bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until done. Keep warm.

To prepare sauce, add shallots to skillet; sauté 4 minutes over medium-high heat or until browned. Add tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 6 minutes). Add broth; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half (about 8 minutes).

Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to sauce; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Calories: 300; Fat: 9.8g (sat 4g,mono 4g,poly 0.9g); Protein: 29.7g; Carbohydrate: 9.7g; Fiber:
0.5g.