SWISS CHICKEN ROLLS

SWISS CHICKEN ROLLS
4 boneless chicken breasts, flattened until very thin
6 ounces Swiss cheese, cut into 4 equal pieces
3 1/4 ounces thin sliced deli-style smoked ham, 8 slices *
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 ounces baby bella or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 ounces fresh baby spinach, optional
Chopped fresh parsley, optional

Place two slices of ham on your work surface slightly overlapping them. Fold the ham around one stick of cheese. Place at one end of a chicken breast; roll up the chicken to enclose the filling, tucking in the sides. Try to make sure that the end flap of chicken is on the bottom of the roll and not on the side. They will stay closed better that way while browning them. Repeat with the remaining cheese, ham and chicken. Season with salt and pepper. They can be assembled up to this point and kept in the refrigerator until shortly before serving time. You may need to increase the cooking time a little if they are cold.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the oil in a very large skillet. Brown the chicken rolls on all sides over medium-high heat, placing them seam side down in the pan first. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the mushrooms, wine and broth to the pan. Cook the chicken rolls 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally. As soon as the cheese starts to seep out of the chicken, it will be done (see my comments below). Remove the chicken rolls from the pan and keep warm.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan juices and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if needed. To serve, slice each chicken roll into about 6 slices on the bias. Arrange them on a bed of spinach. Pour the pan juices and mushrooms over the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

Makes 4 servings
Do not freeze

* I used Oscar Mayer brand thin sliced Deli-Fresh smoked ham. The slices were somewhat oval in shape and small so I needed 2 slices to get them wrapped all the way around the cheese. You may only need one slice of ham per chicken roll if your slices are larger. Just make sure that they are very thinly sliced or they will be too bulky.

Per Serving: 486 Calories; 29g Fat; 47g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

This is based on Paula Deen's Chicken Stuffed with Prosciutto & Fontina. To save money, I used Swiss cheese and packaged thin deli-style ham. I also used baby bellas instead of the large portobellos to save even more. Because I made so many changes, I decided I'd better change the name of the recipe but I thought you might like to see how I came up with this idea in case you'd like to make it like Paula did.

I recommend cooking the chicken rolls at least the full 10 minutes even if some of the cheese starts to ooze out, especially if they were cold from the fridge before cooking. When I followed Paula's tip about them being done when the cheese leaks out, the meat wasn't quite cooked all the way through and the cheese was still pretty firm. This is very good and fancy enough for company. I may thicken the sauce next time with a little xanthan gum because it's very thin. Click the photo to see a close-up.

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