A Golden Globe Dinner

One thing you'll learn about me, if you don't already know, is my husband and I love movies and television. Our friends and family know we watch a lot and are borderline obsessive about a few, but we love it.

Love the journeys they take us on. Love the adventures with funny, inspiring, dark, fascinating and sometimes bizarre people, places, and things. Love the extraordinary ability they have to make us think, reflect, learn, dream, discover, escape.

Anyways. As an entertainment junkie, awards season is something I always look forward to. I wanted to make something special for the Golden Globes to kick off the season. Here goes... 

Prosciutto e Pollo and Roasted Butternut Squash

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Ingredients

• 2 organic chicken breasts, about a half a pound each 
• 4-6 slices of Prosciutto 
• Small block of fresh mozzarella cheese 
• 1 large (4-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and 1-inch-diced 
• Fresh basil 
• Fresh thyme leaves 
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• Kosher salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper 
• Garlic powder

Let's start with the squash.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Check.

Ina, bless her, will tell you to peel, seed and dice the squash into about 1-inch cubes. This is a tedious/messy/annoying project (just being honest) so I'll give you a hint: go to Trader Joe's and pick up their already peeled, seeded and diced squash. They were a little bigger than one inch so all I did was chop them down to a smaller size so they get extra crispy. 

Place the squash on a sheet pan.

Mince up some fresh thyme leaves. Note: this takes forever. If someone with plumpy butterfingers like myself has a fool proof way of getting these tiny leaves off their bendy, thin stems, please let me know.

Add the olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper, and toss with your hands. Make sure the cubes are spread evenly on the pan.

Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender and browned, tossing once or twice during cooking with a large spatula or spoon so the cubes brown evenly. After all is said and done, they'll look all golden-orange-brown, like this.

Yum. Moving on.

When trying to dream up the main course (Brian likes meat, and lots of it), I wanted something different but not too difficult, and like magic, prosciutto popped into my head. Once I had a vision of that thin, salty, Italian meat that reminds me of Eataly, there was no going back.

To start, lay two organic chicken breasts, about a half a pound each, on your cutting board of choice. I'm using my new monogrammed one from my sister- and brother-in-law (Hey Allison and Rams!) that I got for Christmas. That reminds me, I still need to send thank you notes. Oops.

Carefully insert a sharp knife into the thick, upper part of the breast and make your way down to the bottom. Try not to cut all the way through, but make a nice pocket where you can stuff a large amount of cheese. Or a small amount. Whatever you want.

I'm glad we're now on the cheese part. I love cheese and could eat it all day. Especially fresh, pillowy-soft, delicate mozzarella cheese.

Prepare 4-6 slices, topped with few torn fresh basil leaves.



Stuff the cheese and basil mixture as far in as it can go. The good news is that whatever leftover cheese that won't fit into the chicken will certainly fit into your mouth. Pre-dinner snack.

 

After the cheese is safely in its pocket, season the chicken with a teaspoon of olive oil on each breast then liberally add kosher salt, ground black pepper, and garlic powder. After that, lay your slices of prosciutto over the breast so that the chicken is centered and the pocket is covered.



Wrap the prosciutto tightly around the chicken...



 ...so that it looks like a mummy. Lightly oil the bottom of a baking pan of your choice and place them in.

I normally bake chicken at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Since I was double baking with the squash, and this chicken was stuffed with cheese and wrapped in another meat, the two dishes compromised and cooked at 375 for 30-35 minutes each.

One Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy award later (maybe I should start watching Girls?), they were ready. And they were oozing mozzarella.

Heaven.

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Roasted Butternut Squash
Recipe courtesy of The Barefoot Contessa

• 1 large (4-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and 1-inch-diced
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves 
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the squash on a sheet pan, add the olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper, and toss with your hands.

2.  Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender, tossing once during cooking with a large metal spatula so the cubes brown evenly.  Season to taste and serve hot.

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Prosciutto e Pollo

• 2 organic chicken breasts, about a half a pound each
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves
• 4-6 thin slices fresh mozzarella
• 4-6 thin slices prosciutto (should be long enough to wrap all the way around the chicken breasts)
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Garlic Powder

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Cut through each chicken breast horizontally almost all the way through and open it like a book.  Layer the basil and mozzarella evenly on half of each breast and then fold it closed.

2.  Season chicken breasts with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Wrap prosciutto around each breast to hold it closed, with seams on the bottom.

3.  Bake on lightly oiled baking pan for 30-35 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Time and temperature may vary based on oven.  Serve hot with teaspoon of Dijon mustard on the side.