Chicken stuffed with asparagus

Ingredients

• Two large chicken breast fillets
• Pack of Parma or prosciutto ham
• One bunch of asparagus spears, the woody part of the stems trimmed off
• Two knobs of butter
• Salt and black pepper for seasoning

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Trim the chicken breasts of any fat or small bits of bone. With a sharp knife, butterfly the breasts and carefully beat them with a rolling pin or meat pounder until they are abut 3 cm thick.
• Place a large piece of cling film onto your work surface and arrange the ham along the middle, over-lapping each slice and leaving a few inches of cling either side so you have an oblong of ham.
• Place the breasts onto the bottom edge of the ham so they evenly cover it with no gaps but leaving the top part free.
• Spread the knobs of butter over the chicken layer, season with a little salt and pepper then arrange the asparagus in the centre of the chicken breasts horizontally.
• Roll the chicken into a sausage shape making sure that the ham over laps and using the cling film to help forma tight roll. Tuck the end of the ham into each end of the sausage and twist the ends together.
• Roast the chicken “sausage” in a small roasting dish for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
• Carefully cut the cling film off the chicken roll and place into a hot dry frying pan with no oil, turning frequently so it has browned evenly.
• Slice the sausage into rounds and serve with your choice pf potatoes and vegetables.

I like to serve it with crispy new potatoes and hollandaise sauce.