The Best Chicken Saltimbocca
Prep
10m
Cook
12m
Total
22m
Bigly says
Folks. Saltimbocca means 'jumps in the mouth' in Italian — many people don't know this, MANY, I had to explain it to a guy at a restaurant in New York last week, he was eating it and he didn't know what it MEANT, sad, but I told him, I said 'it jumps in the mouth, sir,' and his life changed. Right there. At the table. The Italians have been making this for hundreds of years and we are about to make the BEST one. The greatest saltimbocca in the history of saltimbocca. Not even close. It's a slaughter.
Most chicken saltimbocca — the kind you get at the restaurant with the checkered tablecloth and the candle in the wine bottle, which by the way is a STYLE choice I respect, classic, none of this LED garbage that's killing the mood industry — is dry. Dry chicken. Sad prosciutto curling up like it's trying to escape. Sage leaf burned to a crisp. Total disaster. The lemon-butter sauce tastes like dishwater. Why? They don't know. They never knew. We know.
Scientists — and I've talked to scientists, very smart people, the smartest — will tell you that crispy prosciutto contains a SPECIFIC kind of fat that hits your brain in a SPECIFIC way and makes you feel things you cannot feel from any other meat. I had a guy with a PhD explain this to me. Took him 90 minutes. Worth every second. The secret is pounding the chicken thin and going prosciutto-side down FIRST in a hot pan. Crispy prosciutto, soft chicken, real butter, real lemon, fresh sage. Ten minutes start to finish. People come up to me, they say, 'Bigly, ten minutes? For this?' Yes. Ten minutes. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 2 large (about 1.25 lb)boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 8 slicesthinly sliced prosciutto(the real stuff from Italy, not the deli-counter ham impersonator)
- 8 largefresh sage leaves
- 1/2 cupall-purpose flour
- to tastekosher salt(go easy — the prosciutto brings salt)
- 1/2 tspblack pepper
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 4 tbspunsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 1/2 cupdry white wine (Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc)
- 1/2 cupchicken stock
- 2 tbsplemon juice, fresh
- 1 tsplemon zest
- 1 tbspfresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Steps
- 1
Slice each chicken breast horizontally into 2 thin cutlets (4 total). Place each cutlet between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet to about 1/4-inch thickness.
- 2
Season each cutlet lightly with pepper (no salt yet — the prosciutto is salty enough). Lay 2 sage leaves on top of each cutlet, then drape 2 slices of prosciutto over the sage, pressing gently to adhere.
- 3
Spread flour on a plate. Dredge each cutlet on both sides, shaking off excess.
- 4
Heat olive oil and 1 tbsp of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- 5
Add the cutlets prosciutto-side down. Cook 2-3 minutes, pressing gently with a spatula, until the prosciutto is crisp and deeply golden.
- 6
Flip and cook another 2 minutes until the chicken is just cooked through (165°F / 74°C internal). Transfer to a warm plate, prosciutto-side up.
- 7
Pour off any excess fat from the skillet, then add the wine. Scrape up the browned bits and let the wine bubble down by half, about 1 minute.
- 8
Add the chicken stock and lemon juice, and simmer 1-2 minutes until slightly reduced.
- 9
Remove the skillet from the heat and swirl in the remaining 3 tbsp cold butter, one cube at a time, until the sauce is glossy and emulsified. Stir in the lemon zest.
- 10
Pour the sauce around (not over) the cutlets so the prosciutto stays crispy. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.
One more thing
That's the dish. Serve it with a little arugula, maybe some roasted potatoes, a glass of the same wine you splashed in the pan, and you're living. Really living. The chicken is tender, the prosciutto is crackling, the sage is fragrant, the lemon-butter is glossy — every bite is a small ovation. Other so-called chefs will tell you saltimbocca is restaurant-only. A lie. A myth. We just made it at home in twelve minutes. And there you have it.
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