Rustic Chicken Roulades
I love Mediterranean flavours. This chicken roulade (aka stuffed chicken breasts) exudes all the deliciousness of an excellent Italian parmigiana but in the style of a French roulade. It is brimming with flavour from the olives, spinach, and feta filling, finished off with tomato passata with a cheesy topping.
Don’t be put off by pounding the chicken breasts; it is quick and easy and gives a better result. Ideally, secure the rolled chicken with toothpicks so they do not fall apart, but it is optional as it works fine if you run out of toothpicks, like I did this time!
What is a Roulade?
A roulade is a dish where meat, pastry, or cake is rolled around a filling. The term "roulade" comes from the French word "rouler," which means "to roll." Roulades can be savoury or sweet, with a classic sweet version being the Swiss roll.
While the name ‘roulade’ is French, like many classic dishes or cooking styles, the concept of rolling food around a filling can be found in many cultures. Indeed, it can be traced back to medieval European kitchens, with nobles and royals often enjoying lavish dishes that showcased complex preparation methods, including meat roulades stuffed with herbs, spices, and fruits.
German and Austrian chefs adopted the concept with beef roulades (Rinderroulade), which became a popular dish typically filled with onions, pickles, mustard, and bacon. In Italy, roulades evolved into dishes like "braciole" or "involtini," where thin slices of meat are rolled with cheese, herbs, and sometimes nuts and then braised in tomato sauce.
It is a little fiddly yes, but the flavour combination and the look when sliced is definitely worth it!
Feta vs Fetta
Feta is a traditional Greek cheese made from sheep's milk or a mixture of sheep's and goat's milk. It is stored in brine, which gives it a salty, tangy flavour and crumbly texture. But did you know that feta is protected by a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status in the European Union? This means that only cheese produced in specific regions of Greece using traditional methods can be labelled as "feta." In our supermarkets, the most common version is Dodoni.
Fetta, conversely, is the name for cheese made outside of Greece, often made from cow's milk and found in Australian supermarket fridges. They are similar in taste and texture, although I prefer the original feta.
Italian Chicken Roulade
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- To prepare the filling, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add spinach and cook for 1 minute or until it has significantly wilted. Remove pan from heat. Add feta and black olives and mix everything well to combine. Set it aside.
- To half the chicken into two 'steaks,' I find it easiest to place my left hand on the breast and slice horizontally with a sharp knife.
- To prepare the chicken, place the halved chicken on a chopping board. Cover with baking paper, and use a mallet to pound the pieces until they are thinner. The thinner they are, the easier it is to roll. Season with salt.
- To make the roulade, put a heaped tablespoon of the spinach mixture in the middle of the chicken and roll it up. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat the process for all the chicken pieces.
- Place half the tomato passata in a large baking dish large enough for all the roulades and set it aside.
- Place a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the chicken breast, turning once, until golden brown. Then, transfer the chicken to the baking dish.
- Gently sprinkle the remaining passata over the chicken and bake for approximately 40 minutes until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 75°C.
- Remove the chicken from the oven, top with mozzarella cheese, and bake for another 2 minutes.
- Top with fresh herbs like basil or parsley, serve and enjoy.
