Chicken Kyiv not Kiev
I had not made or eaten this for years, but it seems like the right time to resurrect this 1980s classic
SERVES
4
PEOPLE
PREP TIME
20
MINUTES
COOKING TIME
30
MINUTES
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
125g butter
3 cloves garlic
4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
125g plain flour
125g panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Olive oil cooking spray
Method
Soften the butter at room temperature. Grate the garlic, wash and chop the parsley. Pop the butter, garlic and parsley into a bowl and use a fork to combine it thoroughly. Roll the butter into a sausage shape about eight centimetres long, wrap it in cling film and put in the freezer for about fifteen to twenty minutes to firm it up.
Butterfly the chicken breasts. To do this, put one hand on top of the breast and carefully slice through the middle of the breast from one side, without cutting it through completely to the other side. Open the breast up, placing it flat on your chopping board and use a meat mallet or rolling pin to gently pound it until it is about one and a half centimetre thick.
When all four chicken breasts are flattened, remove the butter from the freezer. Remove the cling film and cut the butter in half lengthways, and then cut each half lengthways again to make four equally sized pieces of butter. Place a piece of butter in the middle of each piece of chicken. Fold from the sides first and then roll the chicken from end to end, as if making a burrito, to make a tidy parcel. Wrap each portion in cling film, twisting the ends to tighten the parcel and pop them into the freezer for thirty minutes.Â
Put the flour in a bowl, add some salt and pepper to season. Beat the egg in another bowl. Combine the breadcrumbs and paprika in a third bowl.  When the chicken parcels are well chilled, remove them from the cling film. Set up a little assembly line with the three bowls and dredge each parcel first in the flour, then in the egg and then finally in the breadcrumbs, making sure the chicken is well coated in breadcrumbs. Pop the coated chicken in the fridge for five to ten minutes and heat your air fryer to 200°C.
Spray the chicken with a little olive oil and put it in the fryer. Cook for ten minutes, and then spray it again with some olive oil and cook it for another eight minutes. Remove the chicken form the air fryer and let it rest for five minutes before serving.
