I've been trying to build up my main dish recipe repertoire, so I cracked open a new cookbook I hadn't really looked at since I got it and found what looked like a light and appealing main dish. In some cases I get nervous cooking for someone else when I'm not sure how the dish will turn out, but my guest was a friend who's seen me through much worse stuff than a failed dinner, so I wasn't worried. Plus she brought a great bottle of wine so I knew there was no way the evening would be a total loss.
The protein choice of the evening was chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and ricotta. Here's the recipe as written.
8 single boneless chicken breasts, skin on
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 package fresh spinach, chopped
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
pinch of pepper
1. Heat butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until soft (about 4 minutes). Add spinach and cook for about 2 minutes, just until spinach has wilted and moisture evaporates.
2. Combine spinach mixture with ricotta cheese, salt, pepper and basil in a food processor and pulse four or five times to blend.
3. Trim excess fat from chicken breast. Loosen the skin from one side of the breast and stuff 1/4 cup of the ricotta cheese mixture under the skin. Tuck the loose skin under the breast, forming a round dome shape. Repeat with remaining breasts. Put the stuffed breasts close together in a buttered baking dish. Brush with melted butter.
4. Bake breasts in 350 degree oven until golden brown (about 35 minutes). Chicken breasts can be served whole or cooled to room temperature and sliced into 4 pieces each for a pretty presentation.
The result was a resounding.....meh. It was just bland. Ricotta is very light, but it also doesn't have a ton of flavor, and there wasn't quite enough onion, basil, salt and pepper in the stuffing mixture to really give it any oomph. I was also hoping for better crispiness in the chicken skin, but it ended up not having much of a purpose in the dish other than holding the filling in place. It probably would have been just as effective without the skin by just cutting into the chicken breasts and stuffing them the old fashioned way.
I did the panzanella recipe Leah discovered as the side dish so at least that was a hit. Making it was slightly bigger adventure than I expected when I discovered my vegetable peeler was missing. My knife skills are mediocre at best, so let's just say it's good the salad tasted awesome because I quite frankly butchered one poor cucumber trying to peel it the old fashioned way.
But the chicken dish still bothered me. So much potential, but definitely in need of tweaking. What did it need? Garlic? A more robust cheese? Stronger onion? Bacon? Bacon DOES make everything better....hmmmm.....
How would YOU make this bland chicken recipe sing?
Hi hon....sorry this was a disappointment for you, but at least you had wine and good company.
ReplyDeleteI've checked all my traditional "go-to" sources. Cooks Illustrated has done two features on stuffed chicken breasts - once pane seared and finished in the oven (Sept/Oct 1999) and once called "French Style" where they braised them in wine and chicken stock. The recipies have one thing in common, other than the source - both recipies called for chicken breasts pounded Flat and Very Cold Filling. Same thing with good old Fannie Farmer. Even she called for breasts that were pounded to a 1/4" thick for uniform cooking.
The picture shows sox chicken breasts, but the recipe calls for eight. Did you adjust the amount of filling? They are also really tight in the baking dish which means the skin won't crips up, it will just steam because the air can't get around them.
The French style tried ricotta and called it "Filling Failure" for oozing and curds of cheese.....I think they're nuts, frankly. I just think the proportions are wrong. Here's what I would do, because I think what you tried sounds totally yummy.....
Assumming that's the largest Pyrex dish you have, cut the number of breasts to four so they have enough room. Pound them flat ahead of time, put them between layers of waxed paper and keep em in the fridge
Use 1 cup of spinach, 3/4 cup of ricotta, switch the dried basil for a tsp of chopped fresh oregano. I like your bacon idea, what about chopping up some proscutto and crisping it up with the onion? Leave everything else alone, especially the seasonings. Be sure the onions have just started to brown when you add the spinach. CHILL the filling for at least 30 minutes before stuffing the breasts. Drink some wine while you wait. :-)
Then, fold the breast around the stuffing, place seam side down in your buttered dish. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with italien bread crumbs tossed with melted butter so you have a good crispy top. <3
Wow! Now THAT is a comprehensive response!
ReplyDeleteTo answer one of your questions, I didn't use 2 of the chicken breasts I bought because they didn't fit! I wish the recipe had specified the total weigh of the amount of chicken -- maybe the breasts I got were too big.
I love all the other suggestions and will give those a try.