Chicken Breasts on Toast with Anchovy Butter
Instructions:
- 1 pound skinned and boned chicken breasts (450 g)
- 5 ounces thickly sliced prosciutto, about 3 slices (140 g)
- 2 slices of Italian bread, cut 1 inch thick, or more as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Bay leaves, preferably fresh
- 6 tablespoons butter (90 g)
- 8 anchovy fillets
- Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
- Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and, pressing flat with one hand, slice in half parallel to the board. Pound the halves between sheets of waxed paper until they are very thin. Cut each half into strips about 2 inches wide.
- Cut the prosciutto into 1 1/ 4 -inch squares. Cut the bread into 11/ 2 -inch squares.
- Place a piece of prosciutto at the center of each strip of breast, dip your fingers in the pepper, spread it on the meat, and roll up that strip. Thread the bread and chicken onto 4 thin metal skewers, alternating with bay leaves and the remaining prosciutto, in this order: bread, bay leaf, chicken roll, prosciutto, bay leaf, bread, and so on.
- Put the skewers in a roasting pan. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and use it to baste the skewers. Roast in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once, until the bread is toasted and the chicken is cooked through.
- Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and dissolve the anchovies in it, mashing them with a wooden spoon. Pour the anchovy butter over the crostini and serve at once—they must be hot. The dish can be garnished with bay leaves.