,“I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good good night
Tonight’s the night
Let’s live it up
I got my money
Let’s spend it up”
It has to be a great night. After all its Friday. Finally my kind of ‘Fry-day’ is back after a long time!!! Though I was going through a rough patch I managed to survive it with my teeny weeny baking addiction. But now it’s over and out (for the time being). I just wish I could say forever instead of that. It has been quite a time that we enjoyed our Friday in our style: loads of shots and flooded with appetizers for a crazy night.
Yesterday I was so happy to know that this Friday we will have some old fun back that I was going through some of the appetizer recipes for it. But it was Bhatty’s idea that we should try our very own recipes and remake it. How cool is that? He knew already that I wouldn’t dare to ignore it. I’m amazed on how ‘Love’ does speak a lot of things without even a single word!!!
After the grand hit of my last week’s Italian Spaghetti Lasagna I couldn’t think of anything but Italian. Okay it is half-truth. And the other half is, I was looking for options to finish off my gallons of Bolognese Sauce which is enjoying a comfortable nap in my refrigerator and that’s making me quite irritated. Yesterday when I had a huge left over from my Pistachio Cottage Cheese Cake and I intended to keep them in the refrigerator I found out that my little red monster had occupied precious space in my refrigerator!
After going through my entire archive I realized what a mess I did. There are so many recipes which I never posted even once!!! Few of them are even a year old; I don’t know how could I do this to them. I chose to do a remake of an unpublished item. Don’t worry I’ll post the original one soon. No bluff! So, my today’s pick is an old Rollatini with a new avatar: Chicken Involtini aka Rollatini with glaze.
Involtini or Rollatini is an Italian style roll up. The traditional Italian name is Involtini but it is more popular as Rollatini outside of Italy. But surprisingly, the similar preparation is known as Braciola in Italian American cuisine. The only difference between these two preparations is traditionally for Involtini/Rollatini eggplant is used and for Braciola beef is used. But today both dishes are pretty much similar due to the usage of various meat like.pork, chicken, beef, veal etc. Okay there is another interesting thing in the preparation style. To make involtini/rollatini thin slices of eggplant/meat are stuffed with cheese and vegetables; rolled up and dipped in egg whites and rolled in breadcrumbs and finally baked or oven roasted. For Braciola beef or other meat slices are pan fried in their own juice or stuffed with cheese and vegetables and fried. Sometimes other meat or sausages are used as stuffing and swordfish as outer wrap.
Damn! I dint even publish the traditional eggplant one! Not to worry they will all come gradually. For the makeover, I used my left over Bolognese Sauce for the glaze and very thin strips of cheese for the stripped look. But I strongly recommend the Marinara sauce for it. This is not the end. There is a key ingredient in this recipe which actually gave it a fresh look. It’s the thing to make your every bite more gooey cheesy. No, not cottage cheese again! It is Mayonnaise. This is the best alternative for the cheese too. You don’t get mayonnaise? Not a problem; use Greek yogurt with the cheese.
Here goes the recipe of Chicken Involtini aka Chicken Rollatini Makeover.
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Yield: 4 pieces
Ingredients:
Boneless Chicken breast: 4 (400g)
Red cabbage: 1 cup
Jalapeno: 3
Spring onion: ½ cup + 1
Mayonnaise: ½ cup Or Greek yogurt: ½ cup (use whatever suits you)
Small Egg: 1
Breadcrumbs: 1 cup
Lime juice: 2 tsp
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
Chili flakes: 1 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Olive oil: 1 tsp (for brushing the pan)
Cheese slice: 1 (optional)
Parmesan cheese: ½ cup
Grated mozzarella cheese: ½ cup
Preparation:
Wash and clean the chicken. Marinade with lime juice, salt and pepper powder. Now allow them to rest in peace. No, not for long as we will be back to it after 10 mins.
While the chicken is resting let’s spread our hands on the filling starting from chopping the vegetables. Finely chop red cabbage or shred it. You can also use frozen shredded cabbage. Don’t make large chunks cause that’s a strictly no no for the filling.
Cut the jalapenos into roundels. Make sure roundels are very thin otherwise they will not behave well in the filling.
Roughly chop the spring onion. Leave the rest as it is. It will be needed for garnishing only.
Take a medium mixing bowl. Add mayonnaise or Greek yogurt whichever suits you. Add shredded cabbage into it.
Add jalapeno and chopped spring onion too.
Sprinkle chili flakes and mix with a spoon to bring them all together. You can add salt and pepper powder too in the filling. I dint use any here.
Add the parmesan cheese and half of the mozzarella cheese into the bowl. mix and set aside.
Take a heavy duty aluminium foil; preferable 1 foot long. Fold it into half. Place one chicken breast with skin side down in the middle and close the foil like a book. Pound 3-4 times with a heavy rolling pin to flatten the chicken breast. Check whether it has flattened or not. If not repeat for 2-3 times more. Be careful not to overdo it otherwise chicken will fall apart and technically that will become minced chicken. So make sure you pound 2-3 times and check and so on.
Place 1 tbsp of filling on the edge towards you. Top it with 1 tsp of mozzarella cheese.
It’s time to wrap up our Involtini aka Rollatini. If you are planning to spice it up more add your favorite seasoning (like dried oregano/ rosemary/ parsley etc) now before you start rolling up. Now start rolling the chicken; starting from the edge towards you ending on the opposite edge. Make sure the filling remains inside. If some of the filling pops out, press gently to keep them inside. Try to seal the open faces by gently pressing the flesh. Repeat the same with rest of the chicken breasts.
Take two shallow but flat bowls/plates. Crack the egg into a bowl and beat. Fill the other bowl with breadcrumbs. Take one chicken roll at a time. Roll it in egg mixture and then drop it in the breadcrumbs. Roll and coat well with breadcrumbs. Do the same with all chicken-rolls.
Take an oven proof pan like I used this rectangle glassware. Grease the pan with olive oil. Place breaded chicken side by side in the pan. Remember the only rule is Strictly No Touching!. Make sure they don’t touch each other or overlap.
Preheat the oven to 2200C. Bake for 25 to 30 mins. As ovens from different companies use different settings your oven may take little less/more time. Adjust the time according to your oven. My oven took exact 27 mins. So it’s better to start peeping, not literally; just keep an eye on it after 20 mins.
Here your Involtini aka Rollatini is done completely. You can serve it as it is. Or, if you want the glazed look of mine keep reading.
Pour any of your favorite sauces on the top of the hot involtini. Don’t remove them from the pan. Marinara sauce is just perfect for it. But you will need a heavy amount of sauce to cover all of those involtinis. As I already have plenty of left over Homemade Bolognese Sauce, I used it. But you can use any of your favorite sauces. Just double check you cover the entire surface with the sauce.
Take a slice of the cheese. Cut it into very thin strips by using a sharp knife. Place the strips on the sauce covered surface of involtinis/rollatinis. Use 3-4 trips depending on the length of the rolls. Place the pan back in the oven for 5 mins more or until cheese melts.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately. You can serve as a whole or cut into 1” thick slices and serve with some fresh green vegetable salad and sour cream.
This can also be a perfect side for stir fried or any kind of pasta. I love my involtinis/ rollatinis as appetizer with sour cream and chilled beer. Though I’m not a beer lover but once in a blue moon it’s good to have few cans on a hot & humid evening!!!
Sending this recipe to http://www.nibblesbynic.com/2014/01/19/munching-mondays-22/
Thank you Priya. You are a sweetheart you know 😉
Thanks Ruchi. I'l be there soon 🙂
Thanks Anisha 🙂
Hello Tia, actually it is very simply. Try sometime and it'll be dome in mins I promise 🙂
Thanks a lot Christie. I'm so glad that you are here. Hope you'll love the preparation 🙂