Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

I have had some chicken breasts sitting in my fridge and they were nearing the end of their postmortem existence. As with a lot of my recipes, I am regularly inspired by the great muses, Expiration Date or Best If Used By.

I hate tossing food that has gone bad. It is just wasteful. Every week I look during my Great Fridge Purge and I group items together that need to be used sooner rather than later.

The good thing about cooking with this method is that it inspires some creative uses of food. Yes I could have just slopped some BBQ sauce and grilled them, but what's the fun with that?

Process

The stuffing inside the chicken breasts are pretty much a grab bag of what was in my fridge at that given time. Based on your current fridge supply, tastes, or desires feel free to sub out a different cheese or veggie. Experiment and let me know if anything else works out.

Begin by heating the oven to 400°F. Take whatever you are going to put into the filling (artichoke, spinach, mozzarella, and spices) and mixed well together. Frozen spinach works great and is a lot easier to use (and keep on hand) than the fresh produce.

Slice a deep pocket into your chicken breasts. Be careful not to cut all the way through or it will make filling them quite difficult. Stuff the chicken breasts with equal portions of the filling and close off with toothpicks. I did not have any toothpicks so I used kabob skewers.

Place the chicken into a dish and load into the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. If the chicken breasts are well sealed, then the inside becomes a wonderful bubbly mixture of spinach, artichoke, and mozzarella (think spinach-artichoke dip). If not, then you have a nice bubbly sauce to pour over your chicken.

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
3/4 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup spinach, shredded (frozen works well)
1 T fresh rosemary
1 tsp thyme
6 boneless chicken breasts
pinch Kosher salt
pinch pepper

Directions

1. Preheat over to 400°F. Mix the cheese, artichoke, spinach, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper into a large bowl. 
2. Cut an opening in the chicken breasts lengthwise. Fill the chicken with equal parts of the filling and close off with toothpicks (I was out of toothpicks so I used kabob skewers).
3. Put into a dish and cook for 35-40 minutes.