Baked Maple Chicken with Pecan and Prosciutto Crumble

Do you like savoury dishes that have sweetness to them? Recently some friends and I were discussing this, and the general consensus was that savoury food + sweetness = most excellent indeed! I did have one friend who passionately disagreed though, so I understand that such people exist... but man, they are missing ouuuuut! With this in mind, I decided to put together one such dish - it's got the subtle sweetness of maple syrup infused throughout, but the salty prosciutto in the crumb topping cuts right through it. YUM. O. Serve this with beans and roasted baby carrots and you have a winner! Just don't get so excited about cooking this dandy chicken that you forget to stick your baby carrots in the oven until the chicken's almost done. You'll throw your timing off... trust me. Ahem.

Baked Maple Chicken with Pecan and Prosciutto Crumble

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
1/4 cup plain flour
50g butter
1/4 cup maple syrup

Crumb Topping
40g butter, chilled, chopped up
1/3 cup plain flour
1/2 cup crumbled pecans
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp brown sugar
80g prosciutto, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180 C.
2. Cut chicken breasts in half to create thin fillets. Place flour on a plate. Rub each fillet in the flour to coat. Place chicken in a single layer inside a large rectangular baking dish.
3. Combine maple syrup and butter in a small saucepan on low heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted. Remove from heat; brush maple syrup mixture over chicken to coat, reserving a few tablespoons. Bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is just cooked.
4. Meanwhile, prepare crumb topping. Combine butter and flour in a medium bowl. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles a fine crumb. Alternatively, place butter and flour in a small food processor and pulse until crumbs are formed. Combine with crumbled pecans, breadcrumbs, sugar and prosciutto.
5. When chicken comes out of the oven, sprinkle crumb topping all over the top. Lightly press crumbs into the chicken. Drizzle remaining maple syrup mixture over the top and season with salt and pepper. Return to oven; bake for another 15-20 minutes or until prosciutto is crispy.
6. Serve with roasted baby carrots and steamed green beans.

Enjoy, my friends!