Filled with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and thyme with a blend of ricotta and parmesan cheese, these stuffed chicken breasts elevate Tuesday night.
1 ½cupfresh spinach leavesor half a package of frozen spinach, thawed
2tablespoonssun-dried tomatoeschopped
½ cupricotta cheese
¼cupparmesan cheesegrated, divided
½ cup dry breadcrumbs
1tablespoonbuttermelted
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°. Lay a piece of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
In a medium pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute until browned and most of the liquid has been given off. Stir in the garlic, thyme, sun-dried tomateoes and spinach. Cook for an additional minute until garlic and thyme are fragrant and the spinach wilts. Transfer mushroom mixture to a medium bowl.
Add ricotta and parmesan cheese to mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Set aside.
Using a very sharp paring knife, carefully cut a pocket into the side of the chicken breast that is about 1/2" shy of cutting completely through the other side and ends.
Fill the pockets with the filling and secure with 3 or 4 toothpicks to keep them closed.
In a shallow bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Brush the chicken breasts with melted butter and dip into the breadcrumb mixture to coat, pressing the crumbs into the chicken breast with your hands. Transfer to the baking sheet. Drizzle the remaining butter over the chicken breasts.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Let sit for five minutes before serving.
Notes
Because there's two chicken breasts, I count this as two servings, but my husband and I usually split a chicken breast because they're quite large. That brings the calorie count down to a moderate 400 calories/serving.