Have your butcher split and pound chicken breasts into cutlets. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare duxelles. Blanch asparagus.
Preheat a large frying pan over medium high heat, add a swirl of olive oil and bacon – cooking bacon until half done, remove and reserve.
Meanwhile, season cutlets with salt, pepper and paprika and then dust in flour. Transfer to pan and sauté until barely half done (1 minute per side – depends on conditions and breast thickness). Place par-cooked cutlets on a large parchment lined sheet pan.
Lay the blanched asparagus evenly over the chicken, top each with an equal share of duxelles and a slice of cheese. Top with a slice of bacon (or pancetta) and place in preheated oven, cooking to 140-150 degrees internal – about 8 minutes.
To make the optional wine sauce: Add wine and lemon to pan and reduce by about 2/3 – remove from heat and swirl in butter pats to taste. Serve chicken with a drizzle of the pan sauce.
*Mushroom Duxelles: Sauté the mushrooms and shallot in butter until the mushrooms have released their moisture and begin to brown. Season with the parsley, salt and pepper.
