Chicken Cordon Bleu Rollups

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This dish lends itself to a ‘fancy’ dinner with minimal cost. I like to serve it with a nice rice dish or scalloped

potatoes and a green vegetable like broccoli.

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4 boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
8 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices thinly-sliced deli ham
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
Hot sauce to taste (optional)
Paprika for sprinkling

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 7- x 11-inch baking dish with cooking spray or use a flat cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
 
Between 2 pieces of waxed paper or plastic wrap, gently pound chicken to 1/4-inch thickness with a mallet. Evenly sprinkle each piece of chicken with hot sauce, salt and pepper. Place 1 cheese slice and 1 ham slice on top of each chicken breast half. Roll each breast jelly roll-style and secure with a toothpick.
 
Place in prepared baking dish and sprinkle chicken evenly with bread crumbs. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
 
Remove from oven and place 1 cheese slice on top of each chicken piece and sprinkle with paprika. Return to oven 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.  Remove toothpicks before serving.
 
Note:  Regular styles of Swiss cheese and deli-style ham tend to be naturally salty, so if you’d rather not add the extra salt, that’s fine too.

Special Note:  For those with a lactose-intolerant system, you can replace the cheese with a non-dairy type. To make this a gluten-free meal, remove the Panko bread crumbs and substitute  gluten-free crumbs of your choice.