Rolled Fillets of Chicken with Pork and Rosemary Filling

From http://inthekitchenwithkath.com

(Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s recipe in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)

Serves 4 – 6

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ pound ground pork

Salt

Pepper

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, minced (or 1 teaspoon dried)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, filleted*

2 tablespoons butter

Sturdy round toothpicks

½ cup dry white wine

* To fillet a chicken breast, hold it down firmly with the palm of your hand while you slice it in half horizontally with a sharp knife. (Don’t worry if they aren’t perfect. Mine came out uneven. I had a couple of small pieces and 2 large pieces. I cut the large ones in half again so I ended up with 6 pieces of varying sizes. It all worked out in the end.)

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1. Peel the garlic and use a heavy knife handle to smash it just a bit.

2. Put the garlic and oil in a large skillet and cook until the garlic is golden. Add the pork, the rosemary, a good sprinkling of salt, and a good grind of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is done. (Marcella suggested discarding the garlic, but we found it was a delicious little tidbit to serve with the dinner.)

3. Remove the pork from the pan and put it on a plate.

4. Sprinkle the chicken fillets with salt and pepper. Put the pork on the fillets; spread it out and press it down with the palm of your hand.

5. Roll the fillets up tightly and secure with a toothpick.

6. Turn the oven on Warm and put a plate in the oven to warm for the chicken. (You could put your dinner plates in, too.)

7. Remove as much of the fat as you can from the skillet. Add the butter and heat the skillet over medium-high heat.

8. When the butter has stopped foaming, add the chicken fillets.

9. Cook, turning occasionally with tongs, until the chicken is done and nicely browned all over. An instant read thermometer should read 165˚ when the chicken is done. If your rolls are different sizes, as mine were, the smaller ones will be done sooner than the larger ones. Remove them as they get done to the warm plate in the oven while the larger ones finish cooking.

10. Add the wine to the pan and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until it is well blended and reduced a bit.

11. Remove the toothpicks from the rolled fillets, pour the juice over them and serve.