Spinach and Goat Cheese Chicken Rolls

Continuing with our eating healthy plan, I looked through Rachel Ray: 365 No Repeats and found this delicious recipe.

4 6-ounce chicken breast halves (I used 3 large breasts)
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
Zest and juice of one lemon (Important - I recommend juice of 1/2 lemon - entire lemon made the sauce too lemony)
Salt and pepper
Toothpicks
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
All-purpose flour for dredging, plus 1 tablespoon
4 tablespoons EVOO
3 garlic cloves
1 small yellow onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (from 4 sprigs)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups chicken broth
¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped (I didn't use because I didn't have - dried would have been good too)
3 tablespoons diced roasted peppers

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sprinkle a little water in food storage bags. Place 1 chicken breast in each bag and seal it up, pushing out excess air. Using a mallet or a small, heavy pot or pan, pound each breast until flat and just shy of busting out of the bag. (Can also be done between plastic wrap)

Wring the spinach dry in a kitchen towel (I didn't want to dirty a towel - squeezing in your hands is fine). Separate it and add it to a bowl. Add the goat cheese and the lemon zest, season with salt and pepper, and mix until combined.

Lay the 4 pounded chicken breasts out on a cutting board. Season them with salt and pepper. Place one-fourth of the spinach-goat cheese filling on each breast, along one side of the cutlet. Roll the chicken breast to enclose the filling, creating a cigar shape, securing with toothpicks.

Season the outside with salt and pepper and then dredge in the sesame seeds and flour.Preheat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Shake the excess flour from chicken and then add to the hot skillet and sauté on all sides for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown all over. Transfer to a rimmed cookie sheet and place in the oven to finish cooking through, another 5-7 minutes, until the juices run clear.Place the skillet back over medium-high heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO, and add the garlic, onions, thyme, red pepper flakes, and some salt. Cook for about 3 minutes, then sprinkle the mixture with 1 tablespoon flour (I used about 2 T) and continue to cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock and thicken the sauce, 3-4 minutes. Finish the sauce with the lemon juice, the parsley, and the diced roasted peppers.

Ladle some sauce onto each dinner plate. Slice the chicken rolls on an angle, and serve atop the sauce.

I added more sauce on top of sliced chicken. I had trouble slicing so this picture isn't too presentable but it was delicious! Just watch the amount of lemon juice!


I served with buttered orzo, as Rachel recommended.

With this meal (and the night before), Greg and I enjoyed a sweet wine that I got in 2006 while studying in France. I was on a school trip in the Loire Valley when we visited a winery that, after the wine is bottled, aging occurs in caves.

This wine is a very sweet dessert/cheese/fruit wine. It is called moelleux and it is from the Montlouis Winery (http://www.cave-montlouis.com/).

Rebecca bought me a set of these handpainted wine glasses while I was in college.