Involtini di Pollo Spiedini

pppRaisins, in Sicilian cuisine?

Absolutely and we, well most of us, Sofia isn’t a big fan of raisins, love to have the sweetness of them running through our savoury dishes. We discovered this recipe whilst in Trapani and we have never looked back. Emilia loves the savoury element the bay leaves give to this dish too, but in such a subtle way. This dish perfectly embodies the north African influences in Sicilian cuisine and no wonder it’s so well known in Trapani with Tunisia being so close by. It’s delicious hot straight from the oven or cold as part of a picnic or aperitivo.

Method

To prepare the filling, place your raisins in hot water and leave to soak for 10 minutes, chop the red onion finely and sauté in olive oil until sweet and caramelised. Leave to cool.

In a food processor add the almonds and blitz. Then add your cheese, cooked and cooled red onion, raisins and fresh breadcrumbs into the mixer and blitz. Loosen the mix with the olive oil. You don’t want the mix too loose but not too compact either. Season with a pinch of salt.

To assemble the involtini, butterfly the chicken breasts and flatten until around 0.5cm in thickness. Flatten the chicken breasts by placing the chicken in between 2 layers of cling film and using a rolling pin bash until it reaches the desired thickness.

Take the filling and spread evenly over all 4 butterflied chicken breasts and roll to create an involtini. Slice each rolled chicken breast in half to create 8 x involtini.

Take the soaked skewers and alternatively pierce 2 x chicken involtini with the fresh bay leaves on each skewer, making 4 x skewers. Place on a baking tray, brush with olive oil and cook for 20-25 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius , until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Serve with our Insalata Catanese . It’s delicious hot straight from the oven or cold as part of a picnic or aperitivo!

Buon Appetito!