Chicken & Sausage Roulade with Garlic Scape Pesto

For this months Halifax Food Bloggers recipe challenge we are celebrating the city's first Sausage Fest with local sausage recipes.  I decided to make a variation of my "Three Little Pigs came to Sunday Dinner" recipe.  A roulade of chicken wrapped in Ratinaud's prosciutto,  filled with garlic scape pesto, and Pete's sweet Italian sausage.

The recipe:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 8 thin slices of prosciutto

Marinade:

• 3 tablespoons olives oil
• juice of half an orange
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig Italian parsley

For the sausage stuffing:

• 2 links of Pete's Sweet Italian Sausage
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 2 green onions, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4 dry white wine

For the pesto:

• 1/4 cup chopped garlic scapes
• 1/4 cup blanched almonds
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Prepare ahead - combine the the ingredients for the marinade in a large ziplock bag and add the chicken.  Seal the bag, and massage the contents  to evenly distribute the ingredients.  Keep in fridge for a couple of hours, flipping the bag occasionally to redistribute the marinade.  Meanwhile, prepare the stuffing and the pesto.

For the sausage stuffing; cook shallots over medium heat in olive oil until lightly caramelized.  Remove sausage from its casing and add to the shallots, breaking up the meat with a fork.  Continue to sautee until sausage meat is cooked though.  Remove from heat and add green onions, herbs, bread crumbs and wine.  Stir to combine.  The mixture should be fairly wet.  Allow the mixture to cool completely before stuffing chicken.  To prepare the pesto; combine chopped garlic scapes with almonds, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil in the bowl of your food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until smooth.

To assemble the roulade, remove chicken from their marinade and pound breasts between sheets of plastic wrap with a rolling pin until uniform thickness, about 1/2 inch thick.  Discard marinade.  Spread about a quarter of the pesto over each breast, and then do the same with the sausage mixture.  Roll each breast up, jelly roll style, and wrap each with two slices of prosciutto.  Secure with butchers twine tied every inch or so.

Bake in preheated 375 F oven for 15-18 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes before removing twine and serve.  Voila, Sunday supper featuring local sausage!