Involtini di Pollo
con Prosciutto Cotto e Scamorza — simple, juicy, irresistible
A classic Italian second course that is quick to make and loved by everyone. Thin chicken breast rolled around a slice of cooked ham and a stick of scamorza, browned in garlic and rosemary oil, finished with white wine. The cheese stays creamy inside if you do not overcook. My mother made this on weekday evenings when there was no time for anything elaborate and the result was always better than it deserved to be for the effort involved.
The involtini di pollo belong to the category of dishes that Italian home cooking handles better than anywhere else: simple enough to make on a weeknight in forty minutes, assembled with three ingredients that together produce a fourth thing — the melting scamorza and the rendered ham fat and the chicken juices combining in the pan sauce — that none of them would be individually. The key is the scamorza. Not fresh mozzarella, which releases too much water and makes the inside soggy. Scamorza — the firmer, slightly aged, often smoked version — holds its shape as the chicken browns and then melts into something creamy rather than watery when the heat drops for the covered cooking phase. A provola works equally well and is equally Campanian.
My mother made these with cooked ham rather than cured, which is the correct choice for the same reason: prosciutto crudo tightens and dries when cooked, while prosciutto cotto stays tender and soft inside the roll. She secured each roll with one or two toothpicks — always removed before serving, which is a detail she never forgot and which I mention because a toothpick in a dinner guest's mouth is not the kind of detail anyone forgets twice. The white wine for deglazing was whatever was open. A good white wine, the infographic says, makes all the difference. This is true. A poor wine's astringency concentrates into the pan sauce and cannot be removed.
La ricetta — per 4 persone
Serve with roasted potatoes, steamed vegetables, a green salad, or creamy polenta. The pan sauce — slightly reduced, flavored by the chicken juices and the wine and the rendered scamorza that seeped out despite all precautions — is worth serving spooned over the rolls rather than left in the pan. My mother served them with the pan juice over the top and whatever was in season alongside. A complete meal in forty minutes that never felt like a weekday compromise.
Buon appetito — e ricordati di togliere gli stuzzicadenti.
