Prawn stuffed chicken wrapped in turkey bacon

Third course, the meat!

Now to go really crazy with the amounts of meat I loaded up onto one plate I decided to make prawn stuffed chicken wrapped in turkey bacon!

Takes a bit of time to assemble but after that it is smooth sailing because you can knock it in the oven and forget about for a bit while you get onto to something else. I love dishes that you can forget about for a while because I think you need at least one of those when you serve courses. It is vital that you move quickly. I had problems being quick serving a party of eight, so I don’t think I want to think about entertaining more without any help. Stews and other slow cooked dishes might solve my problem here but I’ve realised that these dishes have slowly started to become a trend in my little swarays. Slow roasted lamb, goulash, slow cooked lamb shanks, chilli... No! It was time to cut down the cooking time from 4 hours to a maximum of 30 minutes!

I normally do not cook chicken unless it butter chicken! When I cook for people I generally like to do something a little more special and memorable, not fancy but something that is exciting to prepare as well as eat. However I have to agree that there is something very homey about chicken whether it is a roast bird, chicken rolls or a plain old curry.

Keeping in the theme I chose stuffed chicken because I love how something that looks so ordinary can have so much more depth and detailed when cut into.

Prawn stuffed chicken wrapped in turkey bacon

Serves 8

For the meat

• 8 large prawns, cleaned, deveined, skins removed
• 8 chicken breasts
• 19 strips of turkey bacon (You may need more or less depending on the size of chicken you use)
• 200g sharp cheddar, grated
• Rosemary and Olive seasoning (You can use any seasoning you have. This was just what I had at hand)
• Salt and Pepper for seasoning
• Olive oil

Place the chicken flat on a board and using a meat tenderizer flatten out the breast slightly.

Rub with salt and pepper

Using a small knife create a long, deep incision on each breast enough to place a prawn inside

Sprinkle the prawns with the seasoning and place it within the cavity created keeping enough space to overlap the two sides of the chicken later

Sprinkle some cheese over the prawn

Overlap the two sides of chicken, closing the opening

Wrap the bacon around the chicken.

Heat oil on a wide frying pan over medium heat

Place the wrapped chicken carefully in the pan and sear all sides till the bacon looks golden brown and crispy

Now transfer the chicken to a slightly oiled baking dish and bake at 180^o C for around 20 to 30 minutes 

For the Sauce

• 1 large onion,diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 large whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil

In a saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring until golden brown

Add the garlic, fennel seeds and cook for about a minute

Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes and herbs

Season and allow to simmer over low heat, covered for half an hour

Remove the cover and simmer for an added ten minutes.

To assemble

• 2 handfuls of baby spinach
• Balsamic reduction (optional)

Place the spinach on the dish and drizzled the reduction on top

Slice the chicken breasts into one inch wide slices and lay the bed of spinach

Pour over the sauce and serve warm