chicken breast valdostano with braised lentils

I find cooking relaxing and I love to share the food I prepare with my family.  I am really enjoying Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen cookbook. Lidia Bastianich wrote this book back in 2001. I have now prepared several chicken recipes from this book and they were all wonderful.
 
The recipes from this book are a bit lighter on the palate and not as heavy as some other Italian dishes. Chicken Breast Valdostano has simple, but delicious ingredients and is quite easy to prepare. Besides the chicken breast you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, 1/3 cup of dry white wine (Pinot Grigio is suggested), chicken stock, 1/2 cup of seeded and crushed canned Italian tomatoes (San Marzano suggested), Italian prosciutto, Italian fontina cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. 

​I made my own boneless chicken breasts with split chicken breasts that were on sale at Whole Foods for prime members at $2.49/lb. I butterflied the breast a bit and lightly flattened them with the flat side of a meat mallet. Next, I placed a slice of prosciutto on top and gently pounded that on to the chicken breast with the flat side of the mallet. The chicken is lightly coated in flour and sautéed in a combination of butter and EVOO. The rest of Lidia’s recipe describes how to complete the chicken with the remaining ingredients which makes a delicious, light pan sauce for the chicken.
 
I also made Lidia’s recipe for braised lentils that she recommended as an accompaniment to the chicken. While her recipe called for brown lentils, I had green lentils on hand and as I only needed one cup, this substitution worked for me.
 
It did take approximately 45 minutes to prepare both the chicken and the lentils. However, I made enough for a second meal. The lentils were cooked along with diced carrots, celery and onion which gave them great flavor. Lentils were a nice change from rice or potatoes. The chicken was scrumptious. The prosciutto provide great flavor and was not salty.  The melted fontina gave the dish richness and the tomatoes both on top of the chicken and in the sauce provided freshness.
 
My husband really enjoyed dinner that evening. It’s amazing with a few good quality ingredients you can transform plain chicken breasts into a wonderful and tasty meal.