Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce

Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce, a delicious Italian classic. Chicken fillet kicked up a few levels with the use of provolone and herbs inside, all wrapped in pancetta and cooked in a beautiful Marinara sauce. Get some bread ready, or cook some pasta and use the sauce to dress it.

Song of the day: "Con le Mani" by Zucchero.

[This post is sponsored by Stefano Faita. As always, all opinions and ideas are entirely our own.]

Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce inspired by my childhood!

There are recipes that will always be special and this involtini is one of them. One thing I can remember about food in our home is that it smelled wonderful in our kitchen. Both my parents cooked and making the "Sunday Sugo" was always a special thing.

My Mom and Dad had various sauces that they made. Plain tomato basil, one with ground meat, however the one with these rolled up proteins and stuffed with sometimes herbs, sometimes prosciutto or pancetta and cheese, were my absolute favorite. Also, they would have homemade sausages in that sauce. Those were the days and my brother and I were always prepared to raid the sauce pot, "sorry mom and dad!" Anyway, in our house, we called these rolled up jewels, Braciole.

Fueled by memories and great products!

Now that you know a bit about the background of this recipe, I am so excited to get started and share all that love and passion for this Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce! Today we are using a wonderful store bought sauce, Stefano's Marinara sauce, made with only fresh and simple ingredients: tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, onions, sea salt, herbs. It doesn't get closer to home than this. Come let's get into our kitchens and make it together!

Why would you want to make this recipe?

• Firstly, it just is absolutely delicious
• Secondly, it is super easy
• Thirdly, requires few ingredients
• Fourthly, so much fun to make
• Lastly, very economical for feeding a family

Not complicated at all, a simple shopping list!

As I mature more in age, I am really beginning to appreciate the simplicity of Italian cooking. When I was younger my cooking was complicated, with a long list of ingredients. Maybe I was trying to impress my guests, or maybe in my mind cooking was that way.

Really in the end I was expressing my love for food and people. Today's recipe has few ingredients, however it has an end result that you will not forget! Here is our list:

• Stefano marinara sauuce
• Stefano Organic Catarratto wine
• organic free range chicken breasts
• thinly sliced pancetta "arrotolata"
• sliced Provolone cheese
• fresh basil
• dried oregano and rosemary
• salt and pepper
• not to mention good quality olive oil

Kitchen utensils and equipment:

• good sharp knife for filleting
• cutting board
• 12-14 inch (30-36 cm) deep sauté pan with lid
• wooden spoon

How to make Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce!

There are really three stages to making this wonderful Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce. First stage filleting, second stage filling and rolling, third stage cooking. Here is how we rock it:

Chicken:

• Wash and pat dry your chicken breast. With your good fillet knife slice the breast length wise at a thickness of about ¼ inch (.65 cm) thickness.

• Wrap the fillet in plastic wrap and pound with a meat tenderizer on both sides.

Filling and rolling:

• Place two of the pancetta slices on a clean work surface or cutting board.
• Take the pounded chicken fillet and lay it on top of the pancetta.
• Lightly season the breast with salt, pepper, dried oregano and rosemary.
• Layer the sliced provolone on top of the chicken making sure to leave a little space at usually the narrow end of the fillet so we can secure it properly.
• Start from the wide end and roll the chicken up making sure to take the pancetta with you as you roll.
• Secure the seam with a toothpick, and I use two, one for one side and one for the other.

• Once you are done, you will have six lovely involtini that will be ready for the final stage of the process.

Time to cook these Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce!

Cooking:

To get the maximum flavor out of these involtini, we need to fry them up in a hot pan. So drizzle oil in pan, bring it to a med-high heat and place involtini into the pan. Sear all sides to a nice golden color.

Wine always makes things taste better:

• At this point we want to add a splash of wine. This is really going to give our sauce and involtini flavor! Wow, look, it just so happens that Stefano brand makes wine too. A lovely organic Catarratto wine, just perfect! Make sure to save some to have some with lunch or dinner, whatever it may be!

• Time to pour the sauce, make sure to move the involtini around coating them with the amazing marinara sauce, and making sure they are not sticking to the pan.
• Also, add in the basil leaves, this is going to give us some incredible fresh flavor and aroma.

All we need now is time and slow heat!

This is the time we place a lid on the pan and turn the heat to a low setting. The involtini needs time to mingle with the marinara sauce, to get all flavored and tender.

OMG! The aroma of this Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce is incredible!

Talk about mouth watering, the aroma is incredible. That marinara sauce so rich and aromatic. You can smell the salt cured pancetta and that lovely brown on the chicken. I am so hungry , let's get these Pancetta chicken involtini in marinara sauce plated. I chose a rustic oval platter that my mom had. Wanted to really capture those childhood memories.

How does that look? Imagine what your family or friends/guests would be thinking at this moment, looking at the involtini all slathered in that rich marinara sauce. I know what I am thinking. I have to get one on my plate and cut into it! Where's the bread!

If this is heaven I am loving it!

Make sure to tell your guests to remove the toothpicks. I cut the involtini in half and then I can see where the tooth pics are and pull them out.

Back to my involtini now. I just love when you cut in and separate it a bit, and you see that wonderful melted gooey stringy provolone cheese. The chicken is so tender, and that pancetta still has some crispiness.

My first bite reveals the juiciness and tenderness of the chicken with hints of oregano and rosemary. The amazing part is that pancetta offering the salt and pungent nature of its folds to the chicken.

Then you hit the middle and there is this amazing flavor of the provolone so cheesy and gooey.

To bring it all together, the marinara sauce is sweet, rich, and luxurious, which pairs so well with the involtini. Definitely need to be doing some serious scarpetta here. Where is that bread, what does a guy got to do to get some bread around here! Lol, just kidding always bread on our table!

First of all we want to say thank you for sharing this moment in our kitchen. Always a pleasure cooking together, sharing the foodie love. Secondly, enjoy cooking from the prep to the final plating. Your guest will feel all that good vibe and they will leave with joyful expressions and sentiments. Can't get any better than that. Grab you glass of wine, salute! Wow, nice wine, bright, crisp fresh, yum!

Buon Appetito! Mangia! Mangia!

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