Baked Chicken with Prosciutto, Shallots and Grapes

A small piece of blue cheese, some fresh green beans, 2 shallots and some red grapes, as well as a day of cooler weather gave us this meal. The chicken was full of flavours and textures...fresh thyme and garlic on the inside; salty, crispy prosciutto on the outside; sweet, juicy grapes and tender caramelized shallots; a pan sauce that was based on red wine, along with the salt from the prosciutto and the sweet grape juice, and all the chicken juices.

Add into the equation crisp green beans  and soft, creamy polenta with sharp, tangy blue cheese melting into it. This meal was better than I hoped for, especially as it was only the second time I've roasted grapes (see the post Quinoa Salad with Roasted Grapes and Spiced Honey Roasted Almonds), which my husband thinks is weird. It's not really that different to raisins that are cooked for a while in a liquid and plump up!

Start by heating the oven to 375F and having an ovenproof dish ready.

Rub the inside of the 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs with:

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Drizzle of olive oil

Roll the chicken thighs up as tightly as you can.

Wrap each chicken thigh roll in a thin slice of prosciutto, and skewer with a toothpick. Push the toothpick right through the chicken to hold the roll together.

Set aside while you cook the shallots.

In a bit of olive oil, cook over medium high heat, until starting to caramelize:

2 large shallots, peeled and cut into small wedges
Salt and pepper

Remove to a plate.

Add the wine to the hot pan:

1/3 cup red wine

Allow it to boil, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce by half.

Place the caramelized shallots in the bottom of an ovenproof dish.

Pour the reduced red wine in.

Place the rolled chicken thighs on top of the wine and shallots.

Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and add:

3 handfuls of red grapes

Place the dish back into the oven and bake until the chicken is fully cooked, about 25 minutes.



The prosciutto will be crispy on the top, the grapes will be soft and some will have burst. The shallots will be very tender and all of the juices from the wine, grapes and chicken will have combined to make a delicious pan sauce. Allow the chicken to rest while you plate the polenta.

Place a portion of hot, soft polenta in the centre of each dish, and crumble blue cheese over the top.

The polenta recipe can be found in the post

Grilled Herbed Polenta. Serve it straight from the pot while it is still soft.

 

 

Add steamed green beans...

 

...and place the chicken thighs on top. Add some of the grapes and shallots, as well as sauce to the bowl.

• You can use bone in chicken thighs if you prefer, but remove the skin; it will go soggy. Chicken breast can also be used, as can pork or beef tenderloin.
• The chicken can be seasoned, rolled and wrapped up to a day ahead of cooking. Keep it well wrapped and refrigerated.
• Bacon or pancetta can be substituted for the prosciutto.
• Try other herbs such as rosemary or sage.
• The blue cheese can be put inside the chicken before it is rolled and wrapped.
• If you don't have grapes, or also think that roasting them is weird, use figs, plums, peaches or apricots. You can also omit them, but they add a lot of sweetness to the dish and sauce.
• I made the polenta using milk and olive oil, with a handful of Parmesan added in at the end. If you make extra you can use it to grill, as I did in the post Grilled Herbed Polenta.