So at the minute my baby Sister is ‘slumming’ it in Southern Italian with her extended Italian family, it sounds like a hard life with days filled with eating, drinking and lounging around in the Ionian sea…..I feel sooooo sorry for her.

To put her to work I have drafted her as the official ‘Kelly Cooks’ Italian correspondent so in between waltzing around getting a tan she can supply me with the recipes and pics of the food her Italian boyfriend –  Francesco’s family are ‘subjecting’ her to!!

The above is a dish of chicken things wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese, it’s served with a wonderfully creamy mushroom sauce… this really is a ‘plonk down in the middle of the table’ dish that needs serious ‘moppage’ (crusty bread).

A big plate to serve 4 (ish)
10 chicken thighs, skinned and boned and seasoned well
10 strips of smoked bacon
2 big balls of Buffalo Mozzarella ripped into 10 bits
Fresh Oregano

Mushroom sauce
Dried Porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for at least 20mins
2 handfuls of sliced chestnut mushrooms (optional)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 glass of Marsala wine
Single cream
2 sliced shallots
Chopped flat leaf parsley

Lay the chicken flat, place a slice of bacon on top then piece of Mozzarella, roll up and secure with a  cocktail stick. Do this with all of the chicken then brown them off on a heavy based pan – remove and set aside.

In the same pan sling in the garlic and sliced shallots and brown a little, sling in teh wine and ‘scrape’ around the pan, now in with the mushroom (strain the liquid you soaked the Porcini in and sling it in also). You can now reduce the heat to a medium and put the chicken back in along with the Oregano. Mix things around a bit and now in with the cream – about enough to come 3/4’s the way up the chicken, put the lid on and leave for about 20minutes.

Keep an eye on this as you want the cream sauce to reduce but not to get so thick it’s goopy – so maintain a gentle heat. It will adequately cook the chicken but won’t be aggressive.

Keep tasting as you go and regulate seasoning (don’t be afraid to lash in more wine, a bit of minced Garlic, salt, pepper) The sauce will go a nice nut brown colour as a result of the sticky chicken bits at the bottom of the pan and the juice from the Porcini mushrooms – this is exactly what you want. If it does get to sticky then loosen with warm stock if you need to.

Serve on a big plate and scatter with the parsley.

BADA BING!