This recipe is an elevated version of chicken and vegetables. Instead of cooking the chicken breasts whole, I chose to pound them into a thin layer and roll them with chopped mushrooms and spinach to create a more elegant dish. One of the best things about this dish is that it can be partially prepared ahead of time; you can roll the chicken breasts with the stuffing a day ahead and refrigerate them until ready to cook. The difficulty in this dish is in pounding the chicken breast to the right thickness… too thin and it will tear, too thick and it will not roll as easily. It’s important to cook the spinach and the mushrooms first. The chicken rolls don’t need much time too cook and if raw vegetables are used, they will not cook before the chicken is done. You can also prepare the stuffing ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
The gravy that is made with the pan scrapings is what makes this dish outstanding. After the chicken rolls have cooked, I sauté a small shallot and garlic in the same pan and use broth and thyme to incorporate all the delicious flavors left in the pan back into the dish. I recommend serving this dish with a side of carbs (potatoes, rice, quinoa,…) and simple sautéed or roasted vegetables.
Stuffed Chicken Rolls
Course: DinnerDifficulty: Difficult4
servings45
minutes30
minutesAn elegant and delicious alternative to chicken and vegetables.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
120 g mushrooms minced
70 g spinach roughly chopped
6 tsp mascarpone
4 garlic cloves (2 minced and 2 whole)
1 small shallot chopped (~1/4 cup chopped)
2 tbsp corn starch
3 sprigs of thyme
1½ cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Mince the mushrooms and roughly chop the spinach. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan and sauté the mushrooms until cooked.
- Add spinach to the mushroom and cook for 2-3 minutes until spinach has wilted.
- Turn off the heat and add 2 tsp mascarpone and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut chicken breast lengthwise into two equal halves. Pound each piece until ~1/3” thick.
- Working with each pounded chicken piece separately, add 1 tsp of mascarpone and spread it along the width of the chicken breast. Add 1/4 of the spinach/mushroom mix along the width. Starting from one end, roll each chicken piece lengthwise, taking care to keep all the filling in the center.
- Using butcher twine, tie each end to ensure the chicken rolls stay together.
- In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of grape seed oil on medium-low heat and add two whole cloves of garlic.
- Cook the chicken rolls until golden on all sides (15-20 minutes). Once cooked, remove the the rolls and garlic cloves from the pan.
- While the oil is hot, add minced garlic and shallot and sauté for 3-5 minutes.
- Add cornstarch and sauté for 1 minute then add thyme and gradually pour chicken broth while stirring continuously.
- Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the gravy has thickened slightly.
- Pass the gravy through a sift (squeezing out all the flavor of the what’s left in the sift).
- Slice chicken rolls and drizzle with gravy before serving.
