Chicken Roulade with Za'atar and Olive Sauce

5 from 1 vote

Chicken roulade sounds fancy but the definition in french, literally means "to roll". The recipe is simply a rolled up chicken breast that has been seasoned, poached (sous vide), and then seared. You don't have to be intimidated by the wording of recipes because it doesn't have to be time consuming or difficult.

I wanted to give this recipe a mediterranean feel so I added some za'atar seasoning which I just absolutely love. Za'atar normally consists of thyme, sesame, and sometimes sumac. Simple, easy, and delicious!

Because the sous vide technique keeps the moisture in the chicken you have the moist and soft roulade of chicken and then top it with a melt in your mouth olive sauce

This was the 6th courses I made last week for Frans Drescher. This was the only meat dish of the evening. I had made earlier in the day a 3 course lunch and this was apart of the 6 courses for dinner plus breads so it was a busy day to say the least.

I literally didn't know what I was going for when I started this dish, but this was the end result; a Mediterranean chicken with olive butter sauce. Here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

6 people

Chicken Roulade

1 1/2 lb chicken breast
3 tbsp za'atar
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt and pepper

Olive Sauce

1/2 cup white wine
1 cup beldi olives or kalamata
1/3 cup cream
4 tbsp butter
1 splash lemon juice or sherry vinegar

Nutritional information

Calories: 242kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 25gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 897mgPotassium: 496mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 426IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 89mgIron: 3mg

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1 20

Total Time 1 50

Servings 6 people

How to make a chicken roulade

If you have a sous vide machine set the water bath temperature to 132 degrees. If you don't have a machine, get a pot of water on low and try to manage the water temperature around 132 degrees.
For the chicken see the video below. Lay the chicken on a piece of plastic wrap. Butterfly the chicken and then place another piece of plastic on top. Then pound the chicken into a thin fillet.
Repeat with the rest of the chicken breast. Then discard the top plastic wrap. Season the chicken aggressively with za'atar spice. Season lightly with salt on the same side of chicken as well.
Then roll the breast up and tie with butcher’s twine about 5 -6 times. Repeat the process until all are done. Place the chicken into a plastic cryovac bag, add butter into the bag with the chicken.
Seal the bag with no air and place into the water bath. Sous vide for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. The take out and let it rest for at least 15 min

How to make olive sauce

Place olives and wine in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook until 1/4 of the wine is left and then add the cream.
Bring the cream to a boil and then turn down and simmer for 2 minutes. Place everything into the vitamix and puree until smooth. While the sauce is blending add butter to emulsify the sauce.
Finish the sauce with a touch of lemon or sherry vinegar. The sauce shouldn’t need any salt because of the olives are very salty.

To finish

Take the sous vide chicken out of the bag and lightly season with salt on the outside of the chicken. Place a hot saute pan or cast iron on high.
Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and butter if you desire to the pan. Add the sous vide chicken to the pan and brown for 2 minutes on each side of the chicken rolling the chicken over until you have a nice brown crust on the outside of the chicken.
Then take the chicken out of the pan and rest on your cutting board. Cut the string away from the chicken and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice the chicken in 1 inch pieces and then top with the olive sauce. Serve and enjoy!