Chicken Gratin & Dauphinoise Potatoes

 

Apologies for the bad photo, best I could manage with my rubbishy digital camera! This dinner was kind of a random meal that I threw together with the left over ingredients I had in the fridge, the dauphinoise potatoes were yummy, you really can't go wrong with carbs smothered in cream and garlic can you? On a massively unappetising note, I have an unfortunate pigeon story this week. Over these five weeks we have been in Venice, I have become increasingly annoyed by pigeons and have resorted to attempting to kick them at every opportunity. I have a huge dislike of most birds (don't even get me started on the Warwick geese...) but pigeons are now at the top of my list for birds I hate. Basically a pigeon slapped me in the face, I'm sure it was karma from trying to kick its mate or something, but I got a full sweep of pigeon wing across my face yesterday. It was probably the worst experience of my life and I had to calm myself down by having a few scoops of ice cream.

 

Anyway, on to the recipe before my blog descends into pigeon-related hysteria.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Gratin:

4 Chicken Breasts

Handful of Sliced Cherry Tomatoes

4 Rashers of Prosciutto

1 Large Handful of Parmesan

1 Large Handful of Breadcrumbs

 

For the Dauphenoise Potatoes:

4 Large Baking Potatoes (Sliced)

3 Cloves Garlic (Finely Sliced)

300ml Cream

1 Onion (Finely Sliced)

1 Handful Parmesan

 

Layer the sliced potatoes with the sliced garlic and onions in a baking dish. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the cream and pour over the top of the potatoes. Top with the parmesan and bake in the over on 180C for 40 minutes. (this is not a traditional dauphenoise, I added parmesan and onions for a bit of variety).

 

Whilst the potatoes are cooking, fry the prosciutto rashers in a pan until crispy, leave to the side on some kitchen roll to remove the excess fat.

Cover the chicken breasts with a sheet of cling film and hit with a rolling pin until flattened (this is the fun bit). Then lay the flat breasts (haha) on a baking tray and top with the sliced cherry tomatoes. Crumble the prosciutto on top of the tomatoes and then sprinkle the parmesan and breadcrumbs over the top. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top and bake in the oven on 180C for 25 minutes.

 

Once the chicken is done and the potatoes are cooked through, serve with a side salad!