Gratinated Chicken Breast with Curry, Mushrooms, and Fontina
Chicken breast gratinated with curry, stuffed with mushrooms and fontina. An original, elegant, and unusual main course, with this recipe, even chicken stands out for dinners and various occasions. A guaranteed success.
The recipe (“Chicken Breasts à la Calabritto”) is indeed taken from the beautiful book by Franco Santasilia di Torpino “The Aristocratic Neapolitan Cuisine,” a journey into Naples’s aristocracy and its old Monzù (corrupted from the French Monsieur, the chefs who came from across the Alps starting in the 18th century, when Maria Carolina of Bourbon brought them to Naples to refine the already delicious Neapolitan poor cuisine with their refined touch.”) and it’s no coincidence that in this recipe, béchamel is a key ingredient.
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Main Courses
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cooking time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Gratinated Chicken Breast with Curry, Mushrooms, and Fontina
- 1 WHOLE Chicken Breast (divided into 4 thick slices)
- 4 slices fontina cheese (same size as the chicken slice) (0.2 inches thick)
- 4 slices Parma ham (same size as the chicken slices) (thinly sliced)
- 7 oz Champignon mushrooms (thinly sliced)
- 1 oz Dried porcini mushrooms
- glass Demi sec Sherry (or dry Marsala)
- 2/3 cup Béchamel (or cooking cream)
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Curry (or to taste)
- to taste Pepper
- to taste Fine salt
- to taste Parsley (for garnish (optional))
- 2 cups Whole milk
- 3.5 tablespoons Butter (of quality)
- 3.5 tablespoons Flour
- to taste Salt
- to taste Pepper (optional)
- to taste Nutmeg (optional)
- Cutting Board with two side trays
- Baking Dish borosilicate glass
Preparation of Gratinated Chicken Breast with Curry, Mushrooms, and Fontina
Prepare the béchamel with the doses indicated above, following the procedure in my recipe HERE, remember that the secret for a good béchamel is to brown the butter and flour to a hazelnut color.
Wash the dried porcini mushrooms and soak them in hot water with a dash of Marsala, then chop them and save the soaking water.
Wash well and slice the champignon mushrooms thinly, save the soaking water.
Take a pan, melt the butter, and cook the champignons for about 20 minutes with the lid, add salt and pepper and cook until all their water evaporates.
Add two tablespoons of the chosen liquor (sherry or marsala) to the mixture, let it evaporate, and set aside.
Dissolve the curry with a fork and the extra oil, placed in a deep dish. Cut the whole chicken breast into 4 fairly thick slices (maybe ask your trusted butcher to do this operation).
Coat the chicken slices in the curry-flavored oil and cook them on a very high heat until a nice golden crust forms (do not cook too much, otherwise they will dry out in the oven).
Remove them from the pan and set aside on a plate (covered with aluminum foil) keep the pan with the cooking base.
In the pan where you saved the cooking base of the chicken breasts, add the previously chopped porcini mushrooms, 2 tablespoons of their soaking water, the champignons with their cooking base, the remaining liquor, and the béchamel (or cooking cream).
Bring everything to a boil and cook for about 3 minutes from the boil to flavor the mixture.
Pour a small part of this mixture on the bottom of a buttered shallow oval baking dish (remember that the chicken slices must fit in one single layer, they should NOT be overlapped).
Arrange the chicken breast slices on the mushroom sauce, placing on each one first a slice of ham and then a slice of fontina on top.
At this point, pour the remaining mushroom sauce over the chicken slices arranged this way, and let them marinate and flavor for at least 2 or 3 hours.
Twenty minutes before serving the gratinated chicken breasts, bake the baking dish at 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
Serve the gratinated chicken breasts hot, accompanied by a mixed salad with arugula.
If you love Neapolitan cuisine, take a look at my recipes collected in the category: “AUTHENTIC NEAPOLITAN CUISINE“
Tips
If you’re in a hurry, you can easily use 150 ml of ready-made béchamel or cooking cream to prepare these gratinated chicken breasts.
Shopping Tips!!!
To cut the chicken and mushrooms, I used this very handy cutting board, with two side trays (one for collecting cut foods, the other for scraps). You can find it on Amazon
I used this lovely borosilicate glass baking dish, also microwave compatible, which you can find on Amazon.
