Spinach and ricotta stuffed chicken breast

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PRESENTATION

A truly mouth-watering second course: ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken breast are simple to prepare and will win everyone over. Stuffed chicken breasts immersed in a delicate tasting sauce, made with a roux base to which vegetable broth and cream is added. We received lots of requests for versions with shrimps and at last, here is a brand new one! You'll discover how you can bring a truly exquisite dish to the table in no time at all! Serve it with some roast vegetables to complete this dish in a delicious way. Fire up your stove and let's get started!

INGREDIENTS

Chicken breast 2 - (1.32 lb each)
Spinach 3 oz (100 g) - already cleaned
Cow's milk ricotta cheese 4 tbsp (40 g)
Extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp (50 g)
Garlic 2 cloves
Fine salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
For the sauce
Vegetable broth 2 cups (500 g) - room temperature
Whipping cream ½ cup (150 g) - room temperature
Butter 1 stick (40 g)
Type 00 flour 4 tbsp (25 g)
Fine salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Preparation

How to prepare Spinach and ricotta stuffed chicken breast

To prepare ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken breast, start by cooking the meat. Rinse the chicken pieces and heat the oil in a capacious pan, with two peeled garlic cloves 1. Add the spinach and saute for a few minutes, with a pinch of salt 2. Remove from the heat as soon as it softens, then gather with a fork or cooking tongs 3.

Finely chop it on a cutting board using a knife 4 and place in a bowl; add the ricotta cheese 5 and a pinch of black pepper 6.

Stir and leave to one side 7. Cut the chicken in half, remove any bones in the top part of the cut and the cartilage on the bottom. In this way you will have 4 pieces 8. Now use a smooth bladed knife to cut a pocket in the meat, but be sure not to cut all the way to the bottom 9, otherwise the filling will leak out. Do the same with all the other pieces.

Use a teaspoon to fill the pockets 10. Now wrap the pockets with cooking twine, or you can use a couple of toothpicks for each piece 11. Be sure to fasten the cooking twine vertically as well, otherwise the meat pieces will open up during cooking 12.

Now tie a knot 13 to finish preparing your first pocket. Repeat for all the other pieces 14. Take the pan you used before and heat it up on the stove before searing the pockets for 10-15 minutes; this will thoroughly seal them on all sides 15.

Turn the meat over half way into the cooking time 16. Once the time is up, the chicken will be nicely browned; place it on a plate 17 and remove the garlic from the pan 18.

Melt the butter on a lower flame in the same pan 19, then add the flour all in one go 20 and make the roux by stirring with a whisk, just like for bechamel 21.

After 2-3 minutes the mixture will become richer in color; add the cream 22 and the squash tempered with a whisk 23. Leave to thicken for a few minutes. In the meantime, remove the cooking twine 24

and place the chicken breasts in the sauce 25. Add salt and pepper to taste, drizzle the cream over them 26, put the lid on and cook for another 4-5 minutes 27.

The chicken will finish cooking and the sauce will thicken; drizzle it over the pockets once more 28 and your ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken breast are ready 29: all you need to do is enjoy them while they're nice and hot 30!

Storage

If you prefer, you can store you ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken breast for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

You can also freeze them, once cooked. The filling can be prepared a few hours ahead.

Tips

Want to give your chicken pockets filled with ricotta cheese and spinach a special touch? Add some ginger powder to the sauce! If you are inspired by Swedish meatballs, add the smoked paprika and garlic powder instead of a whole clove, along with the ginger, and finish with some Dijon mustard! For an extra touch of class, add a little brandy to the chicken, simmer and reduce: the sweetness will really bring out the rich and savory notes of the sauce. The sauce can be prepared with chicken or even meat broth, instead of vegetable broth.
Milk can be a good replacement for cream, but you run the risk of losing the creaminess of this dish: try adding a little more flour to the roux. Lastly, if you want to flavor with aromatic herbs, choose thyme too!

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.