Chicken Spinach Fontina Braid Recipes

CHICKEN BREASTS STUFFED WITH FONTINA CHEESE AND SPINACH

Steps:

• For sauce: combine wine, cream, lemon juice, vinegar, chopped shallot and pepper in medium saucepan.
• Boil until reduced to ¼ cup, about 8 minutes (can be prepared 1 day ahead).
• For chicken: Pound each chicken breast between sheets of wax paper to 7 x 4 inch rectangle.
• Place smooth side down on work surface.
• Rub ½ tsp olive oil and ½ tsp minced garlic over each chicken breast.
• Sprinkle each with 1/3 cup of Fontina cheese.
• Top each with 3 spinach leaves, overlapping if necessary.
• Starting at short end, tightly roll up chicken, jelly-roll style.
• Tie with string in several places (can be prepared 8 hours ahead).
• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
• Heat remaining 2 tblsps oil in heavy, large ovenproof skillet.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper.
• Brown well on all sides, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer skillet to oven and bake until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer to plate and cool 5 minutes.
• Bring sauce to simmer.
• Add butter, one piece at a time, whisking just until butter melts and sauce is smooth.
• Spoon sauce onto plates.
• Cut string off chicken.
• Cut chicken crosswise into ½ inch thick slices and fan out on plates, overlapping.
• Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

CHICKEN SPINACH FONTINA BRAID

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 375°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
• Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the red pepper, onion, spinach, garlic, salt and black pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove the skillet from the heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
• Stir the chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, dill and vegetable mixture in a large bowl.
• Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 10x15-inch rectangle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the pastry onto the baking sheet.
• With a short side of the pastry facing you, spoon the chicken mixture down the center of the pastry, leaving 1 inch at the top and the bottom. Cut slits 1 inch apart down the sides of the pastry to within 1/2 inch of the chicken mixture. Fold the top 1 inch of pastry down over the chicken mixture. Fold the pastry strips over the chicken mixture, alternating sides, to cover the chicken mixture. Fold the bottom 1 inch of pastry up over the chicken mixture. Carefully bend the pastry into a horseshoe shape. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let the pastry cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cut the pastry into 8 slices.
• Recipe Note: Parchment paper keeps the pastry from sticking to the baking sheet and also makes for easier cleanup. If you don't have parchment paper, you can spray the baking sheet with cooking spray instead. However, cooking spray may cause the bottoms of the pastries to brown more quickly, so begin checking for doneness 5 minutes early.

FONTINA, SUN-DRIED TOMATO AND SPINACH STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken breast and pat dry with a paper towel.
• Cut a slit along one side of the chicken breast with a sharp non-serrated knife being careful not to cut all the way through. Keep the cut as center as possible. Set chicken in the refrigerator.
• Heat 1 tablespoons olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat and saute the sun dried tomatoes for 2 minutes. Then add the spinach and saute for 1 minute stirring continuously so the spinach doesn't burn. Remove onto plate and let cool.
• Using your fingers stuff the chicken with the Fontina cheese then the sun dried tomato and spinach saute.
• Heat 1 tablespoons olive oil in the same deep skillet over medium heat.
• Coat both sides of the chicken breasts with the herb blend and set breasts in skillet. Cover.
• Cook on each side for 8-12 minutes, covering throughout. Adjust time according to thickens of chicken and type of cooking range.

CREAMY BAKED PENNE WITH CHICKEN, SPINACH, AND FONTINA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the golden, about 2 minutes. Add both cans of the tomatoes, the heavy cream and 3/4 cup of water. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer rapidly, uncovered, until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the ricotta and season with salt and pepper.
• Cook the penne in the salted boiling water until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain the pasta and add it to a large bowl.
• Add the tomato sauce, spinach, rotisserie chicken, half of the fontina and pecorino and all of the basil to the bowl and stir well to combine. Transfer the pasta to a 3- to 4-quart baking dish and top with the remaining fontina and pecorino. Bake, uncovered, until browned, about 15 minutes. Let the pasta rest for about 10 minutes before serving.