Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken on Crispy Potato Cakes

Isn't it funny how sometimes you see a picture in a cookbook and think that looks nice until you read the recipe and the ingredients? I happens to me quite a lot and I often finding myself adapting recipes to make them more "user" friendly for me and my family.

This is one of those recipes.... the picture looked great - it did the first time I looked at it, and the second, in fact I look at it everytime I read this cookbook I take the time to look at the picture! (The cookbook by the way is Ainsley's Friends & Family Cookbook).

I suppose you are wondering what it was about the original recipe that wasn't appealing - it was the big piece of fish, monkfish, that was used. Obviously I have changed it to chicken. (We don't eat a great deal of fish but I know we should!).

Anyway the fish fillet was changed for a chicken breast but everything else pretty much remained the same as printed. The original recipe called for a "green vegetable" so the choice is yours really. I used the baby spinach because I love it and will try to put it in any dish!

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken on Crispy Potato Cakes
(recipe adapted from Ainsley's Friends & Family Cookbook)

Serves: 4
Points per serve: TBA

4 chicken breast fillets, skin removed
8 slices prosciutto, thinly sliced
cooking spray
600ml water
1 tablespoon chicken stock powder
170 mls dry white wine
6 tablespoons lite thickened cream
25 grams reduced fat butter
freshly ground black pepper
4 potatoes (approx 600 grams), peeled
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 eggs beaten
2 tablepsoons self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup oil, for shallow frying
200 grams baby spinach leaves

Wrap each chicken fillet with 2 slices of prosciutto, sercuring with a toothpick.

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

Put combined water and stock powder, wine and cream into a small pan and boil until reduced to approximately 1 cup full of liquid.

Spray a non stick frying pan with cooking spray and cooked chicken fillets for 2 - 3 minutes on each side or until chicken is sealed and slightly browned. Transfer to an oven tray lined with foil or baking paper and cook in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked through.

Meanwhile finely grate the potatoes. Working with small handfuls at a time, squeeze out as much excess liquid from them as you can. Put into a bowl, fork to seperate into strands and mix in the shallots, eggs, flour, salt and some pepper.

Heat oil in another frying pan, divide the potato mixture into four. Cooking two potato cakes at a time fry in the oil (flattening as much as possible but so they still remain together) for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown, crisp on the outside but cooked on the inside. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with remaining mixture.

Turn the oven off but leave the potato cakes in the oven. Remove the chicken from the oven and add any excess juice from the oven tray to the cream reduction. Bring to the boil and whisk in the butter and season with a little pepper.

Remove the toothpicks from the chicken.

Put a potato cake in the centre of each plate and top with baby spinach leaves. Place a chicken fillet on the top of the spinach leaves and drizzle with cream reduction.

(Press here for a printable copy of this recipe)