Proscuitto Asparagus Chicken with Fontina

I have been busy lately with house projects and shoveling mountains of snow. The laundry has piled up and so have the dishes from hosting a Super Bowl party. (I choose to make Chicago-style Italian Beef sandwiches.)

I decided to self-indulge for lunch today with a quick and easy satisfying meal. All you need is proscuitto, asparagus, chicken breast, and cheese.

First, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Then you must butterly the chicken breast. Make your first cut in the thickest part of the breast and follow to the thinnest. Do not cut the breast into two pieces. It should open like a book.

Apply some salt and pepper. I omitted the salt since Proscuitto can be quite salty. Next, you want to place the breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it thin. I forgot to do this step but it still works, maybe just a little harder to roll it all up.

You want to cook the asparagus on a hot skillet before you apply it to the chicken. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 2-4 minutes. Layer the proscuitto, fontina cheese, and asparagus onto the chicken breast. I chose fontina because it melts well. I'm sure you can use whichever cheese you prefer.

Next, you want to roll it up and tie it together. I need work on my tying skills but this is important as tying the breast gives it shape, allows it to cook evenly, and keeps the stuffing inside.

Yeah, I know, shady job, but it did the trick. Now, you want to brown the chicken for a few minutes a side. I used my favorite cast-iron skillet to do the job. It gets nice and hot, even heated surface, and adds a wonderful crisp to the meat.

Place chicken in your preheated oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken breast. I turned the breast a few times to get even crispness on all sides.

Served with a side of brocolini, this quick lunch gave me plenty of energy and "umpf" to get back to my housely duties. The cheese was melted to a nice gooey consistency while the proscuitto added the right amount of salt. The cast-iron gave the chicken an excellent crust.

Definitely give it a go. It's not to difficult and the flavors are huge. This also does real well on the open-flame of the grill.