Stuffed Chicken Breast

Its official, I got accepted to culinary school! I know the majority of my readers know this fact already thanks to facebook, but I wanted to say it anyway.  I got the acceptance letter the night that I got home for break, and since then I’ve just been enjoying the fact that I know what I’m doing next year.  Between getting  culinary school and not having classes for a week I’ve been in a state of bliss.  

There’s something that just can’t be beat about sitting around the house during the day, doing homework at your leisure and cooking whatever you want for dinner.  One night my dad and I decided to try something new for dinner and make stuffed chicken breasts, and they were delicious.  We were so happy with how the recipe turned out and we were amazed at how easy it was. 

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and I couldn’t be happier with it. It had a 4.5 star rating and I can see why—this recipe was so simple and a really great dish.  The chicken was tender and moist, the spinach was green and a little creamy and the bacon tied the whole meal together adding flavor and making the dish just a bit more savory. It’s pretty healthy too since it has over 2 cups of spinach per serving!

This dish is so simple you can adapt it easily and play around with it!  The final product looks and tastes great with minimal effort; whether it’s to impress someone or just to have a simple and delicious dinner at home, this is definitely a recipe that you should try to make soon!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 (10 ounce) package fresh spinach leaves

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shredded pepperjack cheese

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness

1 pinch ground black pepper

8 slices bacon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Use tinfoil to cover a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet (with at least ½ inch high walls).  

Empty the bag of spinach into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for and heat for three minutes, stirring every minute or so.  Take the bowl out of the microwave and mix in the sour cream, shredded cheese and garlic. 

Pound the halved chicken breasts until they’re ½ an inch thick and place aside.  Put a quarter of the spinach mixture on each chicken breast and spread it out evenly.  Roll the chicken breast up and wrap two of the pieces of bacon around the rolled piece of chicken.  Use a toothpick to hold everything in place. 

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.  When 30 minutes have passed increase the temperature to 500 degrees for 5-10 minutes so that the bacon can brown.   Take out of the oven and enjoy!