I know what you are thinking, ‘that sounds posh!’ But it really isn’t. It’s a great dish to make on the weekend and impress your friends and it can be prepared in advance. I just made this recipe based on what was in my fridge, and you can do the same.

Chicken is so versatile that you can fill it with anything you like, from pesto, mozzarella and tomato to spinach and ricotta or even roasted vegetables. Anything goes! It’s great fun to make and surprisingly easy. Yes I promise!

Now there’s a few different methods of cooking a roulade. Some say to poach them in water and then pan fry to add colour, others say to pan fry first and then bake in the oven. I wanted to make life easy for myself so just stuck the entire roulade in the oven to roast and it turned out great. It was crispy on the outside yet juicy and succulent on the inside. Simple!

You can also serve it with anything you like. I served mine with sliced crispy rosemary potatoes, roasted broccoli, gravy and chilli jam. I had some lonely looking jars of chutneys at the back of my fridge leftover from Christmas and I thought why not! It tasted great and added a sweet but spicy hit to the entire dish. Give it a try and you won’t be disappointed! Here’s what I did.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 large chicken breast
• 100g Philadelphia garlic and herb cream cheese
• 200g mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 slices Parma ham
• 1 handful fresh parsley

Method:

• Chop up the mushrooms, garlic and parsley and gently fry in a frying pan until soft. Leave to cool.
• Lay your chicken breast on a surface between two pieces of cling film. With something heavy like a meat mallet or a rolling pin, pound the chicken gently until its flat and wide, approximately 1cm thick. Careful not to hit it too hard or the chicken will break!
• On another piece of cling film, lay out your slices of Parma ham, overlapping them slightly. Place the flattened chicken breast over the top of the ham.
• Next spread the cream cheese over the flattened chicken breast. Then add and spread the chopped mushroom mixture over the top.
• After this, carefully roll the entire chicken breast into a large sausage shape, trying to keep the filling in tact and using the cling film as support. Once rolled within the cling film, twist the sides to secure and place in the fridge to firm up slightly.
• Once firm, remove the cling film and place on a baking tray. Roast the roulade in an oven at 180 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until completely cooked through.
• Slice the roulade and serve!

Thanks for reading and check out my website at www.jbimagery.co.uk