CHICKEN ROULADE WITH FENNEL FILLING & RICOTTA SAUCE

“Roulade” makes me feel faaancy to call my chicken like that J hehehe....for those of you who don’t know what that is - its simply stuffed chicken breast that is rolled and cooked!! What I have done for my little experiment is slice it and dip it in a ricotta cheese sauce...after all, my love for cheese is not unknown to any of you J.

Having said all that, I have to say, I had lot of fun creating this recipe! I knew what I was going to do for the roulade but the sauce was totally out of the blues and an instant whip up. After making everything, we were so keen on tasting that I forgot to puree the sauce!! When I said we, I mean my mom and brothers...they were all there, waiting for me to finish taking the pictures, so they could just dive in. By the time I finished taking my clicks and got back to the kitchen counter - the sauce pan, leftover filling and rest of the roulade was wiped clean!!! Cooking for family soup for the soul when you know they love what you made.

Food for thought, I’ll leave you with a funny but well said quote I happened to come across today:

“Rich, fatty foods are like destiny: they too, shape our ends.” - Author Unknown

Ingredients: (Serves approx. 4) 

Boneless butterfly chicken breast piece- 2 pieces pounded and flattened

For marinating:

Garlic - 6 cloves crushed

Lime juice - from 1 lemon

Pepper - 2 teaspoon

Red chilli flakes - 1 teaspoon (for outer crust)

Few leaves from the fennel bulb for garnish

For filling:

Fennel bulb - 1/2 clean and chopped finely

Garam masala - 1 pinch

Cream cheese - 2 tablespoon

Butter - 1 teaspoon

For ricotta sauce:

Ricotta cheese - ½ cup

Tomato puree- 3 tablespoon

Onion - 1 finely chopped

Bay leaf - 2 dried or fresh

Method:

1.       Clean and towel dry chicken breasts.

2.       Pound chicken till they are about ½ inch thick. Use the flat side of a heavy knife if you don’t have a hammer.

3.       Rub salt and pepper on both sides of the pieces.

4.       Now on the inner side rub garlic and the outer crust side rub red chilli flakes.

5.       Plate the meat - garlic rubbed side up - and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

6.       Heat a sauce pan and rub a thin layer of butter on it.

7.       Sauté chopped fennel bulb till fully cooked but crunchy.

8.       Add cream cheese and mix. Sprinkle Garam masala and adjust salt if necessary. Let it cool.

9.       Prepare chicken meat for rolling.

10.   Place some of the filling into the chicken fillet on the garlic rubbed side.

11.   Roll the fillet tightly with the red chillies flakes upside and tie it up with a twine. (For technique check the video here!)

12.   Heat a pan and spread a thin layer of butter.

13.   Pan-sear roulade evenly on every side till a dark golden brown crust is formed.

14.   Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, sauté onions and bay leaf in olive oil.

15.   Add tomato puree once the onion is lightly caramelized.

16.   Once hot, lower heat to minimum and stir in the ricotta cheese. Don’t let the cheese heat up.

17.   Take off the flame and puree into sauce. (Note: I did not puree it because I like bite of onion in the sauce. The taste will remain unaffected either ways)

18.   Pour a thick layer of sauce into serving dish.

19.   Slice roulade and place into the sauce.

20.   Garnish with fennel leaves.

21.   Serve hot/ warm. No need of accompaniments.

A complete dish in itself but if you insist you could serve some croissants with it.J

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