Chicken saltimbocca is one of those things I tried to make years ago, but I was much, much too lazy of a cook to do it properly. I clearly remember being in the kitchen thinking of how to do each step with as little as work as possible. It was one of those moments where I worked so hard trying NOT to work, I probably spent more time than necessary. Fortunately I've come a long way since then, and when I saw the Mary's recipe for Saltimbocca alla Romana over at Go Ahead...Take a Bite! I knew it was time to try again.
Armed with some beautifully thin boneless skinless chicken breasts and some lovely oyster mushrooms and fall spinach from the community market, try again I did.
Unfortunately I did not have any wine or vodka or any other suitable alcohol in the house, so I skipped the marsala altogether and used chicken broth for deglazing the pan as well as the marsala sage sauce at the end. I also couldn't find any decent prosciutto, so I used panchetta. The panchetta was good, but a bit too salty. To counter that and the chicken broth, I did not salt the rest of the dish much at all.
Be sure if you make this, do not skimp on the spinach mushroom mixture. It was so good, I could eat a whole plate of pasta topped with just that, and Mary agreed. I can't imagine how divine it would be with the marsala in it as well.
My husband, who is generally not a fan of sage, and especially of sage dressings, had no objections to the sage in this dish. In fact, as he sopped up the last of the sauce with a piece of bread, he commented that this was so good, it was "restaurant quality." Chicken saltimbocca is now a dish I can make and serve and be proud of, and this recipe will be one I turn to frequently.
Laura! I knew you had made this, but had no idea that you'd posted about it until I saw a referral from this post in my stats. Wow! This was so nice to read and I'm sorry I didn't see it before. Have you had a chance to try it again with the Marsala yet?
ReplyDeleteYou did a beautiful job on the presentation and photo! Looks better than mine!
Thanks again for the nod to my recipe/blog. I was away from the blog for so long and I misssed so much. I have lots of catching up to do. Take care and have a great week! ~Mary