Chicken Involitini (Cordon Bleu) (2024)

Sometime in my childhood, my mother of Irish extraction. in her never ending attempts to put something new on The Food Table served one of my favorite dishes: what she called “Chicken Cordon Blue.” In my mother’s version, the dish was a boneless and flattened chicken breast upon which she laid out slices of very thin ham and Swiss cheese. The breasts were then rolled and fixed in place with toothpicks. She then finished the rolled up breasts in the tradition flour, egg wash and breadcrumb coating. The breasts then went into our Wearever electric fryer.

In Italian this dish is called “involtini di pollo,” but the dish is apparently not native to Italy. According to Wikipedia, the recipe originated in Austria, and considering the fried breadcrumb coating of the chicken, Austria seems most probable as it birthplace. As to the name “cordon bleu” Wikipedia tells us that “cordon bleu” first appeared in the New York Times in 1967, a date that would correspond to my memory of the dish on our table. When I checked through such cook books as I have, Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, and Robuchon are silent on the recipe.

Fresh chicken (pastured if you can find it) with ham and cheese is a simple and perfect combination of taste and texture. But, Chicken with ham and cheese is so popular that has also suffered the contortions of the fast food industry. The sorry state of this recipe finds it adulterated by catering services that offer some Frankenstein frozen version that must be resuscitated for a mass audience. I can’t count the number of times I have been subjected to this version at a wedding reception or some other collective dinner. Not only are they tasteless and rubbery but they all look identical as though cast from a mold. Lest I be accused of defamation I will not publish images of the pseudo-versions of this recipe as created by the food industry. Just look in the freezer section of your grocery store.You may find something like this. (Is that a tongue of cheese mocking me, or a chicken breast disgorging a mistake?)

But all is not lost. In my research I found several wonderful Italian versions of this recipe where instead of breadcrumbs the chicken is wrapped in prosciutto. Here is the curious part. This recipe is indeed called “rollatini.”

In the recipe here I used Genoa salami instead of ham and provolone instead of gruyere. Since I was adding a good dash of Sherry to create a sauce I did not use bread crumbs. The Sherry would have washed them away.Chicken involtini is also a great platform for a little experimenting. For the filling try finely slice eggplant or blanched greens such as spinach or Swiss chard. In fact try anything from crushed almonds to olives. This is also a great recipe to get the kids involved. They’ll have a great time laying out the layers of the filling.

Equipment
Sharp knife
Large fry skillet: iron or heavy stainless
Tongs
Meat pounder (or side of your knife)
Plastic wrap
Kitchen twine or toothpicks
Three bowls for breading
Draining rack
Paper towels

Chicken breasts
Cheese slices: Provolone or Gruyere
Ham slices or other meats such as salami
Olive oil for frying
For the coating
flour
milk
egg
breadcrumbs (optional)
salt and pepper
thyme (optional)
Sweet Sherry (optional)

Butterfly

Butterfly the breasts slicing them open/

Pound

Cover the breasts with plastic wrap and pound the breasts thin.
You can also use the side of your knife.

Ham and Cheese
Lay out the meat and cheese of you choice. As an alternative try any number of things from thinly sliced eggplant to greens.

Roll and Tie

Roll up the breasts and tie them with twine or fasten them with toothpicks.

Fry
Heat the oil on medium high.
Set the involtini in the pan
keep the heat medium to low.

Let each side brown before turning.

Sherry glaze
(optional)

Finish with 1/2 cup of Sherry and let it simmer with the thyme.
OR
Finish with 1/2 stick of butter and the thyme.