This savoury chicken dish is freshened up with a tart salad on the side. 

Words and recipe: Michael Van de Elzen

The key to making the batter really tasty is the salty punch of flavour you get from the mix of parmesan and the anchovy fillets. If anchovies aren’t your thing, you can leave them out, but I strongly encourage you to give them a try.

You need quite a bit of oil and butter when it’s frying, or you’ll struggle to stop the meat from sticking. A non-stick fry pan or well-seasoned cast iron pan also helps.

Serves: 6
Time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3 medium-sized boneless chicken breasts (500g)
2 tbsp plain flour
4 whole eggs, lightly beaten
100ml cream
50g finely grated fresh parmesan cheese
6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil

METHOD

Lay the chicken breast flat on a chopping board. Cut across the breasts to form 1cm-wide slices. Lay the slices between two pieces of plastic wrap and beat with a rolling pin (or similar) until 5mm thick to create escalopes (pronounced eh-scar-loaps, a thin, boneless slice of meat).

Add the salt, pepper, and flour to a large bowl and mix. In another bowl, mix the beaten egg, grated parmesan, anchovies, and cream.

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan until bubbling. Pass the escalopes through the bowl of flour, then through the egg wash, then shallow fry the chicken for 1-2 minutes on each side until the coating is crispy. Serve with the rocket salad.

Rocket & Parmesan Salad

INGREDIENTS

100g baby rocket leaves
100g fresh parmesan, shaved
1 Granny Smith apple or any variety of pear
1-2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar

METHOD

Quarter and finely slice the apple or pear. Mix with the rocket and parmesan in a bowl, and drizzle with the aged balsamic.

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