In one of my shopping expeditions, I bought some free range Chicken breast from my friend Ray at People’s Park in Dun Laoghaire.

I want it to cook the chicken breasts in an innovative but traditional way, so decided to prepare it “al cartoccio” as we say in Italy… I started to experiment and came up with a recipe that everyone loves!

Once they taste it, you’ll know why…

Al Cartoccio basically means wrapped in tin foil and baked. This way,  the chicken never dries out and still retains all the flavours added to it even if you cook it for a long time. I bet that you will enjoy the result of this recipe.

For my recipe, I used Pronto Spaghetti a sauce that has evolved from a famous Italian recipe “Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino” ( Garlic, Olive Oil and Hot Chilli) but with the addition of sun-dried tomatoes. This delicious sauce can give a boost of taste to any of your recipes.  Perfect for meat or fish dishes or to spread the paté on tarallini, bruschetta, crostini or sandwiches. You can also add few tablespoons to your soups and stews…

For a delicious pasta dish, simply add the sauce on a saucepan and mix it with a tablespoon of the pasta cooking water to dilute the sauce and then add the drained pasta to the saucepan, then mix well.

 How to Cook Chicken Breast “Al Cartoccio”

Preparation time: 10 min

Cooking time: 45 min

Ingredients for 2 servings: 

Pronto Spaghetti – ½ jar (because I like it slightly hot)

Lemon – ½

Garlic – 2 cloves

Marjoram – 2 ts

Bay Leaf – 2

Extra Virgin Olive oil  – 20 ml

Green olives – pitted 30

Cherry tomatoes on the vine – 9

Salt and pepper

Chicken breast – 3

As a side dish:

A bunch of asparaguses

Extra Virgin Olive oil 1 tbs

Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven at 220°C

Start to prepare the dressing. In a food processor put the Pronto Spaghetti ( if you want it a little bit hot; otherwise, use Sun-dried Tomato pate’), lemon, garlic, marjoram, bay leaves, and Extra Virgin Olive oil. Blend them all together until the mixture becomes creamy.

Spread the creamy mixture around the chicken breast. If you like, make a cut in the breast and fill it with the sauce. This will be richer in taste.

Now put the breast on a tin foil. Add more or less 15 pitted olives, 3 small tomatoes cut in quarters, salt, pepper and a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive oil

Wrap the tin foil around the chicken breast, leaving a little bit of space inside and put on an oven tray. Repeat with all the other pieces of chicken.

Put the tray in the oven and cook for 45 min.

As a side dish, just put some asparagus in an oven tray and drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Then, put the tray in the oven with the chicken.

This will take 20 min or less. So I suggest that you put the side dish in the oven 20 min after you put the chicken.

Buon appetito!