A simple way of adding lovely flavour to your chicken breasts. This is a popular mid-week meal in our home in Cavan. Sometimes you’d swear we were Italian!
Serves 4
Ingredients
olive oil
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
sea salt
4 chicken breasts
1 ball of mozzarella cheese, sliced
8 slices of prosciutto ham
8 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
200ml beef stock (stock
cube and water)
200ml cream
freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark4. Put two tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and wilt the spinach. Season with a pinch of sea salt, then place onto some kitchen paper to soak up any moisture.
Slice into the side of each chicken breast to make a flap and then stuff them with equal portions of the cheese and wilted spinach. Wrap each chicken breast with two slices of the ham and then bake in a roasting tin for 25 minutes in the oven.
Put two more tablespoons of olive oil into the saucepan and cook the mushrooms over a high heat until they are soft. Make sure you get a nice colour on the mushrooms. Add the thyme and beef stock, and reduce by half over a really high heat. This normally takes 1–2 minutes. Finally, add the cream and season with salt and pepper.
Cook for a further 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
When the chicken is cooked pour over the sauce and serve. I like to serve with a side of sticky coconut rice (see page 190).