Sometimes you need a recipe that is set out to impress. Maybe it’s a holiday, or a romantic dinner date, your in-laws are coming over, or maybe it’s just been a week and you need to remind yourself that you are awesome. Whatever the case, this is the recipe for you!
What You Need:
6 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Trimmed and Butterflied
8 oz Sun-dried Tomatoes Diced
8 oz Marinated Artichoke Hearts
16 oz Shredded Mozzarella
1 cup Grated Parmesan
16 oz Fresh Baby Spinach
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
OR substitute all the seasoning for:
3 Tbsp McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning Mix
You will also need:
Butchers Twine
Meat Thermometer
Meat Mallet
If you know anything about me, you know that I will never lie to you. And here is the hard truth: this recipe is a tiny labor of love. It’s not that it’s hard— but it’s definitely not as “easy-peasy-brainless” as some of my other offerings. But we are going to walk through this together and the result is super worth it!
First, trim and butterfly your chicken. Then pound the chicken out to about a 1/4 of an inch in thickness and lay on a large baking sheet. I like to wear gloves and to layer a large plastic baggie over my chicken when I am pounding it out because it makes for much easier cleanup.
Next, mix all of your seasonings in a bowl and then liberally season ONLY the ONE side of the chicken. The same goes for if you are using the McCormick Montreal Spice Blend— just liberally shake that all over the one side of the chicken and leave the other side blank. Flip all of the Chicken Breasts over so the seasoned side is facing down and the plain side is up.
Now to make the filling. I like to use my food processor for this because it cuts down on chopping time, but it’s not vital and can absolutely be done by hand. In a food processor dice up all the drained Artichoke Hearts and then empty into a large bowl. Next dice all of the drained Sun-Dried Tomatoes before adding those to the bowl as well. Roughly chop the fresh Spinach and incorporate that in with the Artichokes and Tomatoes. Finally, add the Mozzarella and Parmesan to the bowl and give everything a good mix.
To stuff the chicken, I cut 12 (or as many as you have of chicken) pieces of butchers twine into 18” sections. Extra long string is way better than too short so don’t worry about the length. Then I take large handfuls of the filling mixture and pack it on top of all of the chicken. Roll the chicken tightly around the filling and then secure it with the butchers twine. I don’t have any grand technic in my tying method, but basically I just tie it the same way I would a present — start going length-wise then cross over and go width-wise and make a knot. Repeat this process with all of your chicken until you have beautiful little wrapped chicken presents.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Then set up two large skillets on your stove top with a quarter inch canola oil or whichever oil you prefer that has a high smoke point. Turn the pans to medium-high and put three pieces of chicken in each pan and cook for two minutes. Flip chicken over and cook for an additional two minutes. The chicken is going to still be 100% raw, but all we are looking for is a good sear and a little color on the outside. Repeat this process with all of the chicken and then place the seared rolls in a large pan.
Bake for 30-40 minutes at 300 degrees. After 30 minutes, I check the internal temperature of the chicken to see if they have reached 160 degrees. Continue checking every 5 minutes until the chicken does reach 160 degrees. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before removing all of the string and slicing. And let me tell you, there is absolutely nothing more satisfying than. making that first slice and revealing the beautiful spiraled chicken and that gorgeous filling! Enjoy your masterful (and delicious) creation!
These were absolutely delicious! Beautifully explained with very nice photography too!