Who doesn’t love ricotta and spinach? Add roasted red peppers, onions and garlic, and you have one hell of a stuffing. In this recipe we stuff some paper thin chicken breasts with this delectable mixture, and do it all in less than an hour. Let’s get chopping!
Ingredients
- 2 chicken cutlets or tenderized chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp scoops of ricotta
- 1/2 finely chopped onion
- 1.5 – 2 roasted red peppers
- 1 large handful of fresh spinach
- 1 tsp of dried thyme (or fresh if you’ve got it)
- 1 clove garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Good Seasons seasoning
- 1-2 tbsp Olive oil
Directions
Prepare the Stuffing
Start by finely chopping onion and peppers, then toss them into a properly olive-oiled skillet over medium heat. Cook until the onions are soft and beginning to turn brown, then add a clove of pressed garlic.
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Toss chopped onions and peppers into skillet under medium heat
When onions start to brown, add pressed garlic
After a minute or so, add the spinach to the pan and fold until spinach is coated with the oil from the pan.
Fold spinach into pan
While that cooks, scoop ricotta into a bowl and sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Lightly mix together.
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This is probably TOO MUCH thyme! Test it as you go so you don’t add too much
When spinach is wilted, spoon contents of skillet into the bowl and mix together.
Spinach will wilt when cooked
Spoon contents of pan into bowl
Mix it all up!
Prepare the Chicken
Now take chicken and coat one side with thin layer of olive oil. Sprinkle Good Seasons seasoning on chicken until lightly dusted (about 1/2 of a package).
This will make the outside of the chicken actually tasty. Under seasoning chicken is where a lot of stuffed dishes end up in the dreaded “it was ok” category.
Coat chicken with olive oil and Good Seasons seasoning
Break 3-5 toothpicks in half and set aside. These will hold the chicken together, but we don’t want them sticking out of the chicken.
Flip chicken breasts over so unseasoned side is facing up. Scoop stuffing mixture into middle and spread to cover 2/3 of chicken. Roll up chicken and flip so the “flap” is facing up.
Scoop stuffing on top of chicken and carefully roll it
Stick toothpicks into the chicken to fasten the sides together. Don’t worry if you’re making a mess, it’s going to happen. Try your best to shove as much stuffing back in to the folded chicken as you can.
Lay chicken into a preheated iron skillet over medium heat.
Lay chicken with toothpick-side-up in skillet
Flip when bottom side is brown and you can see the sides of the chicken to start to turn white. Try to stuff anything you lose back into the chicken. If it’s not working out, just place any remnants on top, it’ll still look great, trust me.
Cover pan and cook until chicken is 160 degrees f.
Flip when bottom side has good color
Cover the chicken to help cook through
Plate your chicken and place any rogue stuffing on top. Wait 3-5 minutes before enjoying then dig in!
*Be especially careful of the toothpicks! They will be hard to find so proceed with caution!
Our delicious final product!
Notes
This would go well with a light salad or veggie (like asparagus) on the side.
Substitutions
- Ricotta could be substituted with cottage cheese for a lower fat and higher protein version
- Instead of onion, feel free to use a shallot (it might even be better!)
- Roasted red peppers can be substituted with fresh bell peppers (of any color)
- Fresh Thyme could, of course, be used instead of dried.
- Feel free to use your favorite chicken seasoning instead of Good Seasons, if desired
