Chicken with crispy Parma ham and beetroot

This dish of chicken breasts with crispy Parma ham is a very easy recipe, but it is very rich and perfect for everyday use. Wrap, season and accompany with four ingredients and let the oven work for you. What do you think about the idea?

The result is succulent breasts, full of contrast with a delicious salty and crunchy ham. We accompany them with some vegetables, but you are free to choose your favorites to roast while the chicken browns. How delicious are well-constructed simple recipes! You will see that the sauce that accompanies it, a simple rocket sauce, rounds off the dish.

Le Creuset high non-stick oven tray

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 4 slices of Parma ham (failing that, use Iberian or Serrano ham)
• 200g beetroot
• 1 fennel bulb (about 200 g)
• 300 g of small potatoes
• 3 tablespoons dried tomatoes in oil
• 5-6 grains of garlic
• 3-4 sprigs of thyme
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil

For the arugula sauce:

• 100g rocket
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup olive oil

Elaboration

1. Turn on the oven to preheat it to 200°C, heat up and down.
2. Meanwhile, add a little salt and pepper to the chicken breasts (don't overdo the salt, the ham will give it that touch as well), and wrap each one with the Parma ham.
3. Pour a stream of oil on the bottom of the tall nonstick Le Creuset oven tray , and arrange the breasts on it.
4. On a wooden board, peel the beets and cut them into small pieces. Cut the fennel bulb into wedges and cut the potatoes in half (if you prefer, you can peel them). Remember to reserve the upper part of the fennel bulb to decorate.
5. Distribute all the vegetables around the breasts, on the tray.
6. Distribute the sun-dried tomatoes over the chicken (if you want, you can chop them small beforehand, or cut them a little). With a spoon, take the opportunity to pour a little of the oil from your preserve on the vegetables and breasts.
7. Chop the thyme and sprinkle it on top.
8. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is done and the ham is crisp.
9. Garnish with chopped fennel and serve.
10. Prepare the arugula sauce: finely chop the arugula and arrange it in a bowl. Add the lemon juice and olive oil, and mix to form a sauce. Pour the arugula sauce over the dish when you serve it.

Grades

• Do not overdo the oil in the tray, because when you add the canned dried tomatoes they will also loosen a little. In addition, you will add oil when serving it, with the arugula sauce, if you prepare it.
• The arugula sauce is optional, but the contrasting flavor of the arugula with the ham works really well. I recommend you try it.
• You can use other vegetables! From adding onion or carrot to eggplant or pepper... the roasted vegetables are very tasty. Just keep in mind that there are harder vegetables and others that are softer, which will take more or less to cook, while you will have the chicken with ham ready in half an hour and it is what you should order. Thus, cut the vegetables more or less large according to their hardness (if you add carrot, for example, cut it into slices of half a centimeter or not very thick strips, to ensure that they are roasted to the point when finishing the chicken).
• You can also make the recipe in a cast-iron cocotte or a tall skillet pan. You will see how, due to the heat of the iron, the ham becomes deliciously crunchy quickly, but you must have some large pieces to be able to do it there (you can see that this roasting tray can go a long way).