What’s not to like about parmesan and spinach stuffed chicken breast, all neatly wrapped in slightly crispy pancetta? It feels like the perfect recipe to try when you want a little bit of red and white meat with an addition of veg that you do not need to cook separately.
How to Make Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast With Pancetta
Making Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast: Alterations and How to Make It Ahead or Child-Friendly
Skip the pancetta: Sigh, it feels so wrong to make this without the pancetta which I feel adds a nice saltiness to the mellow chicken and spinach. However, should you want to make the recipe without pancetta here is what you could do.
Make the spinach-stuffed chicken breasts and roll them with the string to hold them in place. Cook as per the instructions below and make the sauce so that way it is not too dry.
Make ahead: This is one of the reasons I absolutely love this recipe. We are all strapped for time, even though at the moment with everything going on it feels like time stood still at a moment we wish would just pass already.
But if you are a parent, carer, or just generally busy person the last thing you need is to spend countless hours in the kitchen. So this is perfect for you because you can make it over the weekend while doing your meal prep or weekly menu plan.
Make sure to already tie it with the strings, then pack it in cling film (giving space between each one to make it easy to thaw, or in case you do not need to cook all of them) and store it in the freezer. When you’re ready to cook them, just leave them to thaw overnight in the fridge and cook them the next day. Simple as that.
Children: To make the spinach-stuffed chicken breast for children, you can skip using wine to deglaze the pan. And optionally make extra sauce.
About the Sauce:
I tried to keep it simple with the sauce, by only deglazing it with the white wine. Then pour in water or chicken stock stirred through with corn starch. An alternative would also be to use vegetable stock.
In case you do not have any either stock, you could use vegetable or chicken stockpot and just stir that through hot water. Let it cool completely before stirring in the cornstarch.
Save Time:
If buying the chicken from a butcher, an option would be to have them escalope it for you. That way, all you need to do when you get home is stuff and wrap.
Use frozen spinach. Leave it in the fridge overnight and squeeze out the excess water, chop, and mix with the parmesan.
Buy already cut pancetta: It might seem like an obvious point but it is much easier working with pancetta that has already been thinly sliced compared to having you slice it yourself. This could also result in uneven slices.
Serve the Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast With…
A hearty bowl of freshly steamed fluffy basmati or jasmine rice would go well with this delicious flavor-packed spinach-stuffed chicken breast.
Roasted potatoes: If you love potatoes then this would be a good option. I suggest you have the potatoes in the oven first before you start to cook the chicken, that way all the food is hot at the same time with no need for reheating.
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Spinach stuffed chicken breast wrapped in pancetta
(+5 rating, 1 votes)
Loading...Chicken breast stuffed with spinach and parmesan all neatly wrapped in slightly crispy pancetta? A wonderful option for weekday dinner.
Ingredients
- FOR THE CHICKEN
- 65g steamed spinach
- 35g grated parmesan
- Salt & Freshly ground black pepper
- 350g chicken breast
- 86g pancetta
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- FOR THE SAUCE
- 60ml white wine (optional)
- 280ml of water or chicken stock (1 1/4 cups)
- 18g cornstarch (1 1/2 tablespoon)
- 5g knob of unsalted butter
Instructions
Squeeze out any excess water from the spinach and finely chop it, mix with the grated parmesan and black pepper, and salt
Escalope the chicken into slices and thin them out using the back end of a knife, bottle, or mallet.
Equally, portion the spinach mixture onto each escaloped chicken fillet and press on it, then roll and wrap with the pancetta and tie with the string.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of oil and add in the (uncut) garlic to infuse the oil- it should take no more than 20-30 seconds, take it out before it starts to brown. It will help to tilt the pan so the oil forms a puddle around the garlic.
Panfry the chicken, turning occasionally for even cooking and browning. It should take approximately 18 minutes.
Stir 1 1/2 tablespoons of corn starch into the water/vegetable/chicken stock, measure out the wine and set aside.
Take the chicken off the pan and deglaze using the wine, and after 10 seconds, pour in the stock stirring continuously until it is smooth and homogenous.
Add the butter, salt, black pepper, taste before adding back the chicken. Roll to coat with the sauce and cover to simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.
Serve hot.
Store leftovers in the fridge.
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