Chicken Sorrentino
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Serves: 4
For Sorrentino sauce:
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Oil for frying
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2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
- 600g/22ozs tin diced tomatoes or tomato passata
- 1/4 cup/60ml/2flozs red wine or marsala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Black pepper
For the rest:
-
1 large eggplant (around 300g/10.6ozs)
-
Salt and pepper to season
-
650g/23ozs chicken breasts (2 chicken breasts)
- 1/2 cup plain all purpose flour
- 4 slices prosciutto
- 2 cups/200g/7ozs. mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup/90g/3ozs parmesan cheese
- Basil and parsley, chopped
Step 1 - I make the sauce first as it's easier to layer things on top of the sauce. Sauté the garlic and cook for another minute or two until soft. Add in the tomatoes and red wine and bring to a simmer. Cook for 25 minutes and then season with salt, sugar and pepper adding more of one depending on the taste - you want this well seasoned (I get on with the rest of the dish while the sauce is cooking). Spoon half of this mixture into a large baking dish.
Step 2 - Slice the top off the eggplant and cut into 4 thickish slices around 1cm/04inch thick. Salt generously and wait for 10 minutes to allow the salt to draw out the bitterness. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Step 3 - While the salt is doing its thing slice the chicken breasts in half across and then cover with clingfilm and pound until half the thickness so you have four flattened chicken fillets. Season generously with salt and pepper. Don't skip this step because it's important. I know I sound bossy but trust me ;)
Step 4 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Place flour on a rimmed plate and dredge the chicken fillets and fry the chicken in some oil until almost cooked. Place on the baking tray on top of the sauce. Add the prosciutto on top of the chicken.
Step 5 - Then crack and beat the eggs into a shallow bowl and add the breadcrumbs into another bowl. Dip the eggplant in the flour, then beaten egg and then breadcrumbs. You can also oven bake the eggplant slices (just brush generously with oil) if you want a lighter version. Add some more oil to the pan and fry the eggplant (these soak up quite a bit of oil). Place these on top of the chicken and prosciutto. Top with the remaining sauce and then the mozzarella and parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with basil and parsley on top.