Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Cheese and Spinach Recipe

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Cheese and Spinach

from The Wine and Food Lover's Diet by Philip Tirman, M.D.

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 5 ounces each)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
4 cups stemmed and well-rinsed baby spinach leaves
2 1/2 ounces Boursin cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup canned reduced-sodium chicken broth

This and many other wonderful recipes may be found in
The Wine and Food Lover's Diet
by Philip Tirman, M.D. from Chronicle Books

Instead of enclosing a stuffing in a pasta such as ravioli, I use it as a filling, along with spinach, in chicken breast rolls. Boursin, a triple-cream cheese seasoned with herbs and sometimes garlic, is one of my favorites for this recipe and other stuffings. An equal amount of fresh goat cheese or ricotta combined with garlic, your favorite herbs, and salt and pepper to taste may be substituted. As an alternative stuffing, you could try 1/4 cup each finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley and basil, and two slices of prosciutto, dividing them between the two breast halves. The chicken is pounded flat so that it can be rolled. This is easy to do and takes just a minute or so.

1. Place each breast half between sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet or rubber hammer, lightly pound the chicken to a uniform thickness of about 1/4 inch. Lightly season on both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Place the spinach in a saucepan with just the rinsing water clinging to the leaves. Cover and cook over medium heat until wilted, about 2 minutes. Scatter the spinach on a work surface to cool. Gather the spinach into a ball and squeeze with your hands to remove the excess moisture. Coarsely chop the spinach.

3. Spread half of the cheese over each breast half. Pat half of the spinach over the cheese. Roll the chicken around the filling and secure each roll with 2 wooden toothpicks.

4. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil until it shimmers. Add the chicken rolls and cook, turning as needed, until browned, about 12 minutes. Remove to warmed plates and keep warm. Add the broth to the pan and stir and scrape any browned bits from the bottom and sides of the pan. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Pour the pan sauce over the chicken and serve.