Chicken Cordon Bleu Dinner - J+J Style

Josie and I wanted to put an Italian spin on a traditional dinner. We made a creamy, lemony orzotto topped with sliced chicken cordon bleu with prosciutto, provolone and basil with a side of sauteed zucchini.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

We decided to jazz up chicken cordon bleu with the help of Rachel Ray's original recipe found here. Below you can see the recipe we came up with.

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - butterflied then pounded to 1/4 in. thickness
• 6 pieces thinly sliced prosciutto (This only cost us a total of $1.17 at the Schnucks deli. This goes to show you that you can use a costly product if used in small quantities.)
• 4 pieces provolone cheese
• 4 basil leaves - sliced into small pieces
• Kitchen twine
• 1 tablespoon EVOO

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Lay the pounded chicken breasts on a flat surface and place 1.5 pieces of prosciutto on top, then a slice of provolone, then 1/4 of the cut basil on top of that.

Roll the chicken tightly lengthwise. Secure with 3 pieces of kitchen twine (1 at the top, 1 at the bottom, 1 in the middle) that you double knot then cut off the excess twine. 

Put a large saute pan over high heat and add the EVOO. Place the chicken in the pan with the seam side down. Sear on all 4 sides (approximately 1.5 minutes per side) so that there is no pink visible on the outside of the rolls. Move the seared chicken to a baking dish sprayed with PAM. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Let cool for at least 2 minutes after removing from the oven. Remove the kitchen twine. Slice the chicken at a diagonal.

LEMON-BASIL ORZOTTO

We love orzo and we love risotto...combining the two sounded AMAZING so we had to try this recipe from Kelsey Nixon. We made a few edits and you can see how we made our recipe down below.

• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 cup orzo pasta
• 1/2 cup chardonnay 
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 5 basil leaves cut into thin slices
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• salt and pepper

In a medium sauce pan add the EVOO and shallots. Saute over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and soft. Add the orzo and toast for 2 minutes while stirring. Add the wine and cook until absorbed.

Gradually add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and turn the heat to low. Let cook for 10 minutes then remove the lid and let cook for 5 more minutes. By this point the majority of the liquid should be gone.

Stir in the Parmesan, basil, lemon zest, whole milk and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Heat on low for an additional 2-5 minutes for flavors to combine and more liquid to be absorbed. Serve immediately.

SAUTEED ZUCCHINI

This is a staple side dish we ate growing up and we continue to make now. Super easy and super tasty!

• 2 green zucchini
• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch thick rounds then cut the rounds in half (half moons). Heat a large saute pan over medium-low heat, add the EVOO, sliced zucchini, and season with salt and pepper. Saute zucchini for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 2 or so minutes. After placing the warm zucchini on the dinner plate top with grated Parmesan cheese. Beware, these zucchini will go fast, so yummy!

Here is how our dinner plate looked...

Mangia bene!!