Rolled Chicken Bites

The other night I asked for volunteers to help cook dinner. Of course, my daughter, Gabriella, was first in line. She never misses a meal. This girl literally lives for food....she can hear a wrapper opening miles away! And then, of course, she comes running..."What are you eating, can I have some?!"

I mean it, I will try to sneak a snack while riding in the car, and she can see, from the third row of the van, that I am stuffing something in my mouth. "I smell something," she says, "what are you eating?"

One day, her love for food will either make her husband very well fed, or she will fall into obesity and have no husband at all. (My husband is hoping for the latter!)

So back to dinner....Gabriella and her plastic 'sharp' (as she calls knives) were on hand to help make these wonderful snacks that my parents and grandparents would serve up at every party. So as kids, we only ate them when guests or lots of family came over...which usually meant there wasn't much left for us. This made my brother and I especially angry. Let's face it, a hungry Italian is not a pretty sight. So, I decided I would never put my children through such torture.

They are a great party snack, but you can make them larger, like I did, and have them as a meal. So, as promised, another great recipe from the family cookbook: "La Cucina Di Rosa"

ROLLED CHICKEN BITES (call them anything, I suppose...we just named them this as kids)

Getting Ready

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut chicken breasts into strips

Cut bacon strips to half size

Cute a block of swiss cheese into small cubes

Beat eggs with a touch of milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder

have ready: bread crumbs, toohpicks, parchement paper

The Dirty Work

Start with the cheese. Wrap a piece of chicken around it as tightly as you can. Then wrap a pice of bacon around that fairly tightly. Secure with toothpick. Dip into egg mixture, then into breadcrumbs. (If desired, repeat to double coat the breading...its a litle crispier that way.) Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet for about 30 min, depending on your oven (so keep checking!)

You can remove the toothpicks once they're slightly cooled.....then dig in. They are especially good with some marinara sauce to dunk. You could even substitute prosciutto for the bacon, but you can't use too large of a piece since it dries out so easily.

Bon Appetit!