This is another recipe inspired by what was in my fridge the other night. We eat a lot of chicken in my house. We have it at least twice a week if not more. I am always looking for new things to stuff the bird with and have come up with quite a few. I also am experimenting with spinach. It was only this year that I really started to eat spinach. I always thought that it was too bitter a vegetable for my liking. I guess I just wasn’t trying good spinach. So now that I have added it to my repertoire of vegetables I figured hey not stiff the chicken with the spinach and so I did. This recipe isn’t one of my quickest but it is very flavorful. Enjoy!
Olive oil
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 garlic clove, minced and 2 garlic whole and peeeled
Salt
Pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (you should be able to use 6)
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup grated cheese (I use Pecorino Romano)
Toothpicks
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add in garlic and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Stir around the spinach until it is coated. Cover the pan and allow the spinach to cook turning it every so often. Once spinach has wilted remove from pan and set aside.
In a medium size bowl mix together the ricotta and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Cut a slit in the chicken breasts to create a pocket. Don’t go all the way through the chicken. Stuff the ricotta mixture inside the slit. Then stuff it with the spinach. You can mix the spinach in with the ricotta too but I wanted a separate layer of spinach. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
Place the egg mixture into a shallow dish. In a second shallow dish place the breadcrumbs. Dredge the chicken in the egg mixture and coat on all sides. Dip the chicken with the egg on it into the breadcrumbs and coat on all sides. Close the pocket up with some toothpicks by placing them in at an angle. Repeat for each piece of chicken.
In a large sautée or fry pan that is oven proof add in the garlic and about 1/4 cup of oil. Turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot add in the chicken. Brown on both sides. If needed add more oil to the pan. Once browned place the pan in the oven and cook 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Serve over pasta and Enjoy!
