Chicken Prosciutto

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Ingredients

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
* 8 whole fresh sage leaves
* 1/4 pound very thinly sliced prosciutto
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 8 thin slices Italian Fontina cheese (about 2 oz)

Sauce:

* 1 cup dry white wine
* 1 Tbsp minced fresh sage
* 1/2 stick unsalted butter, chilled


1 Trim the chicken tenderloins away from the breasts, and reserve for another use. Cut each breast half in half, horizontally. Trim away any excess fat. Place the 8 chicken breast pieces between two large pieces of wax paper. Pound the pieces with a mallet until each one is about 1/8 inch thick. Season with ground pepper and set aside.

2 Heat the butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan. When the butter is foaming, add the sage leaves and cook them on each side for 1 minute. Remove the sage leaves from the pan and place a leaf on each of the chicken pieces. Next wrap each chicken piece with a single layer of prosciutto.

3 Dip the wrapped chicken pieces, one at a time in the beaten eggs, coating them well. Make sure the butter in the pan is foaming golden, not browned. Working in batches so that you do not crowd the chicken in the pan, place the chicken pieces in the pan. Cook the chicken breasts about 2 minutes on each side, or until they're just past pink on the inside, golden on the outside. Remove.

4 Place chicken pieces on a flat baking sheet, and cover each piece with a slice of Fontina. Place under a preheated broiler until the cheese just melts, about 1 minute. Divide chicken among 4 plates and serve immediately, with the sauce.

5 While the cheese is melting, pour out the butter from the sauté pan. Add the white wine into the pan, place over high heat. Reduce the wine to 1/2 cup. Add the minced sage about a minute before the reduction is complete. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the chilled butter. Adjust the seasoning, pour over and around the chicken.