There are certain foods that will always be linked to certain events or place. It might remind you of your parents, or indeed your grandparents cooking, a specific restaurant or venue, or even, perhaps, a monumental life-altering moment. Or the connotation may be a little bit more mundane, not that it matters.

When it comes to roulades however I find them extremely difficult to place. On one hand they’ve been on the kitchen table forever thanks to my parents, but I also remember eating one once as a child as part of a Sunday pub lunch somewhere. It is a “chicken or the egg” scenario that I’ve never solved, nor really had the temerity to enquire about.

But for as long as I can remember it has been a dish that has been there. Simple to create, it even ranks amongst my specialities – if I may make such a bold claim.

Perhaps the best thing about a chicken roulade is its complete versatility. In an age of bespoke burgers and DIY dawgs the fact that ‘custom chicken’ isn’t a gastronomic staple is somewhat beyond me.

Anyway, to hopefully get you in the mood for a rouladution (excuse the very tenuous pun) here’s my favoured variety.

Blue Cheese & Spinach Chicken Roulade

Served 4

Ingredients

• 4 Chicken breasts
• 4 large strips of Parma ham
• 50g Blue Cheese – Variety to taste
• 500g Baby spinach

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6
• Slice part of the way through the chicken breast and then open it out.
• Sandwich it between two sheets of cling film and then beat with a rolling pin (or other similar object) until 5mm thick.
• Remove from the film and place on top of a slice of Parma ham.
• Place a spinach leaves across the exposed side of the chicken and top with blue cheese.
• Roll the chicken breast from one end to the other, forming a cylinder. Secure with cocktail sticks
• Repeat the process with the three remaining breasts
• Heat some olive oil in a frying pan until hot, add the roulades. Cook for a minute each.
• Transfer to the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
• Garnish with some basil and parsley and serve

Enjoy!