First off, I like to thank all those who took the time to view my cooking piece and to comment, offer advice, discourage and encourage.
I see the wisdom in most of what was said but one can’t be all things to all people and I think it’s best for one to be themselves.
The next time I’m presented with an opportunity to film a piece, I think the best approach is to just be oneself, treat your audience as you would your house guests and everything will be fine and most importantly, have fun!
On that note, I had a joy making this easy dish of chicken breast and two of Greece’s favourite ingredients: spinach and Feta.
Greek cuisine has brought you Spanakopita (spinach & cheese) pie but here, I take a similar filling and spruce-up an otherwise bland piece of meat – the chicken breast.
This meal makes for a good date offering or a snazzy weekday meal that will please adults and kids alike and…you get to sneak some good’ spinach into the meal.
The is chicken with spinach and feta is easy, big on taste, easy on the wallet and simple enough to jot down on a cocktail napkin.
Chicken With Spinach and Feta
(Κοτόπουλο με σπανάκι και φÎτα)
(serves 4)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of water
75 gr. crumbled Feta
75 gr. ricotta cheese
4 Tbsp. of chopped fresh chives
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 pads of unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
sweet paprika
2 Tbsp. of flour
1 clove of garlic, smashed
2 Tbsp. minced shallots
1 cup chicken/vegetable stock
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
- Trim your chicken breasts of any excess fat. Wash and pat dry and set aside. In a bowl, mix your spinach, chives, dill, Feta and ricotta and mix well with a fork. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut a pocket into the side of the chicken breast and fill with the spinach mixture. Secure with one or two toothpicks. Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper and some sweet paprika.
- In a large non-stick skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium/high heat and brown side of the chicken (3-4 minutes a side). Remove the chicken and reserve.
- In the same skillet, add the wine to deglaze the tasty brown bits and reduce over medium heat for a couple of minutes (the wine has nearly evaporated). Now add the shallots, garlic and flour and saute for another minute or so, just enough to cook the rawness out of the flour.
- Now add your chicken stock along with the chicken breasts, bring to a boil and then cover and, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes.
- At this point your sauce should begin to coat a wooden spoon. Remove your breasts and keep warm. Add the cream to the sauce and simmer until the sauce is thick and you can draw a line into the skillet with your wooden spoon. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add the chopped fresh parsley.
- Cut each breast into slices, fan onto the plate, serve with your favourite rice dish and spoon the cream sauce over the sliced chicken breast. Serve immediately.
67 Responses
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
That dish looks fabulous! Spinach, Feta and chicken, what a yummy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
what a great way to cook chicken breasts and dressing them up so beautifully~
Lovely dish, Peter! I love the way you plate your food these days….I think it all happened there in Greece…
Much admiration for your willingness to put yourself out there Peter. You are a wonderful cook. I have so many things of yours on my list to make already!
The chicken is, yes, wonderful, but I don’t know why… I keep staring at that round pile of rice and I want to just grab a spoon and shovel it into my mouth. :)
You know I’m right there with this chicken, feta and spinach combo. A perfect pairing Peter. All the best in all your endeaviurs!!
Great plating yet again Peter! The chicken looks moist and tasty – and it’s seldom that I think much of chicken breast meat!
What a great idea – and chicken breasts do need some jazzing up! Anything to make them a bit moister and give them some flavour.
Great combination of flavours to have with chicken!
absolutely LOVELY presentation, and not only that, but it looks deliciously mouthwatering! I think you’ve included 3 of my all time favourite ingredients here: chicken, feta and spinach. This is the kind of dish you want to live off on a deserted island!! :-)
The heavy cream and ricotta was a surprise when I read the ingredients. I guess that’s what helps make the dish look so rich. The gravy sounds particularly tasty.
I see what you mean that we are on the same wave line today. Feta or halloumi they both pair with spinach and chicken breasts.
I’m intrigued with the combination of dill and feta. I’ll have to give this a try.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
I think you are right, this would be great for kids and adults alike. The chicken looks super moist too.
Peter — honest to goodness this looks like a “home run” recipe.
I’m passing this along to some people.
Paul
I love that and it looks like I could get it done on a busy weeknight in no time at all.
Sounds terrific.
“Jot down on a cocktail napkin” great line!
Love the presentation here.
I love everything about this dinner. Delicious!
Spinach, cheese and chicken is a pretty irresistible combination, no matter how it’s wrapped or presented. This recipe looks delicious.
This really is an incredible dish. It’s got everything I enjoy eating and that gravy look too good!
Here I am wondering what to do for tonights dinner. I have chicken fillets in my fridge.
I have EVERYthing on your list to make this lovely looking dish of yours – EXCEPT ricotta!!!
Will have to do this another day as I can’t go out again! Looks really yummy Peter.
Hi Peter, thanks for the great recipes! I love the fact that when I can’t remember one of my mum’s greek recipes I can just look you up!
Could you please do MORE greek food. As a second generation Greek/Australian married to a North African, I still want my children to love and enjoy all the food that I grew up with.
Keep up the excellent work.
Cristina
That sauce looks wonderful Peter! You know, I never cooked it this way and it’s nice to have alternatives to Chicken breasts… cut this way look so elegant! Muy rico, sà señor!!!
Feta cheese?
Wow this looks so yumm. I will try them soon as chicken is somethignwe make always.
This looks great, Peter! Not only does it make chicken breast more exciting, but it also gets more vegetables into the meal.
All of my favourite flavours – great plating too!
Perfect to keep me warm in this cool, rainy day.
I don’t think I can argue with anything that looks THAT good! We never keep chicken breasts around, but this might be a good reason to start!
What a fabulous looking dish Peter! Spinach, Feta and chicken a combo that works for me – yum!
Yum.Chicken can be so boring, but this is packed with FLAVAH! Peter dont listen to any discouragers. As you say you cant be all things to all people, only truu to yourself. So keep the blinders on, your sprit intact and progress forward. At the end you can say you never had any regrets because your tried and dared.
That does look absolutely delicious. One can never have too many chicken recipes.
Oddly enough, in my case sneaking the spinach in wouldn’t be difficult. It’s the feta that I would have to sneak past Sir Pickypants.
Tasty!! This dish looks amazing and has the perfect blend of ingredients!!
This chicken looks amazing!! I love feta with anything – especially chicken. The sauce looks really lovely.
Peter, another dish that I have to make from your blog. Keep them coming. Have a wonderful night!
This dish look soo beauty Peter,xxGloria
Beautiful plating! I love that there is plenty of sauce. Everything is better with a good creamy sauce!
Spinach and feta is one of my favourite combinations!
I can imagine how tasty is with chicken and that super sauce:))
Gosh, this looks like something in a fancy magazine! I really like what you created here; I’ve not had ricotta and feta together before, and I bet it’s just great! Man, now I’m hungry for chicken with spinach and feta! YUM!
i hope you weren’t discouraged! although i haven’t read all 67 comments, i would hope most come from love. you’re great and don’t let anyone tell you differently.
this chicken looks totally moist… and tasty.
Looks delicious! Like the combo of the feta and ricotta. The more cheese the better.
This chicken looks fantastic! I am going to make this soon! I love anything with ricotta and feta – and these are the flavors my daughter loves. So thanks.
Yum, that’s a great looking chicken. Do you have Giannone chickens in Canada? I think that’s where they are from. The best birds around here for sure.
I am totally digging this gravylicious chicken heaven. The rice is molded and everything! No wonder your birds are so horny.
I love to try this recipe of Chicken and Spinach… great combinations..
Thanks
Andy
http://www.recipebuddys.com
how about a little (or big) bowl of that cream sauce on the side for me? thanks. :)
This looks absolutely marvelous, Peter. I love that combination of ingredients. I missed the cooking piece – I was absent for a bit due to some family issues.
I love the ingrédients (Feta, I love feta). It’s a fabulouse plate.
I love this recipe Pete! I love, Spinach (never thought it was Greek…), I love Feta and poultry.Needless to say the lovely presentation… I save it for my book of recipes. Thank you so much!;-) xxNat
that would certainly be a good way to flavor chicken, yummy!
I second we are never full’s comment! We are all here to support you, I have no doubt you will be a succeed!! Just look at this plate of food!!
Nice… That’s some great plating right there. People tend to dislike chicken breasts but I’m sure this will change their minds.
That spinach filling sounds tasty! Great presentation.
Peter,
Hard to believe it has taken me this long to find your wonderful site.
I love your recipes and will be reading your blog weekly.
I will try this chicken dish, I am always looking for elegant, simple dishes to serve company.
Many thanks! Stacey
Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts on this dish. I look forward to making it again soon.
Cristina, welcome and thank you for visiting. Enjoy the dishes and tell everyone in OZ to drop by.
Neverfull, not discouraged at all (re: youtube piece). It’s just that there were so many suggestions that I obviously can’t be all things to all people so…gotta just be myself.
Zen ,if we do I’m not aware of having eaten them. I ask around for them.
Stacey, better late than never right? Welcome, hope to see you often and perhaps even trying some dishes.
This dish looks absolutely delicious! Simple ingredients well-executed. Great stuff, as always.