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Chicken stuffed with spinach, mushrooms and ricotta... wrapped in bacon... yes please!
Ingredients
100g frozen spinach
100g ricotta cheese
100g mushrooms, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
1/2 an egg... crack the egg open and discard one side of egg whites
4 small chicken breasts or 2 very large can be divided into 4 portions
8 slices of streaky bacon (use turkey bacon as alternative)
8 toothpicks
Handful of parsley, chopped
Side suggestions, sweet potato fries, steam vegetables or a green salad.
Steps Filling
Below instructions are for hand preparation of filling. A food processor can also be used, however be cautious not to over blend. Texture will help hold together filling.
Add finely chopped garlic and mushroom to lightly oiled pan and sauté until soft. Add frozen spinach pieces and continue to sauté.
Continue until all liquid has evaporated from pan completely… this step is essential to a thick consistency of filling that doesn’t ooze out while rolling.
Place into a bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Next add ricotta, half egg, half chopped parsley, salt and pepper.
Place in fridge until use. If you have time 30 minutes in fridge or 10 minutes in freezer will speed up process.
Chicken preparation
Butterfly chicken by using a sharp knife and running it through the middle horizontally, stopping around 1cm before the end. This will open up the chicken breast (hence the butterfly name) and create a cavity for your filling. See video for demo.
If you’re using large chicken breast, cut them into equal portions and follow same steps of butterflying.
Wrapping
Before wrapping, have some toothpicks handy.
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
To wrap, place two pieces of bacon vertical on chopping board and open chicken breast in centre point of bacon.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of filling into centre of chicken breast, spread across one side and carefully close.
Wrap bacon over breast and roll away from you to cover in bacon.
Once wrapped, use toothpicks to help hold shape and keep together during the cooking process. Best spots would be one of each side, near opening.
Place in oven proof dish, sprinkle with remaining parsley.
Bake for 20-30 minutes depending on size of breast, until bacon is golden. If required use top grill to crisp bacon up.
Rest for 5 minutes before serving.