STUFFED CHICKEN MEALS RECIPES

Steps:

• Boil the kettle, tip the mushrooms into a small bowl, pour over boiling water to just cover, then leave to soak for 15 mins. Drain and squeeze out the mushrooms (save and freeze the liquid to make a base for a gravy) and roughly chop.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the shallots and garlic for 3 mins. Turn up the heat, throw in the mushrooms and cook for a few mins more. Add the spinach, turn the heat up to high and cook until wilted and all the liquid has evaporated. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Beat in the cheeses and season with loads of pepper and a little salt. Set aside.
• Take the chicken breasts and remove the small fillet from the back. Cut a slit into the side of each chicken breast then stuff each one with a quarter of the spinach mixture, closing it with the cut-off fillet. Carefully wrap each stuffed chicken breast in a slice of prosciutto and chill until needed. Can be prepared up to a day ahead.
• To cook, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line up the chicken on a baking tray and roast for 20-25 mins until the prosciutto is frazzled at the edges, the cheese is oozing out and the chicken is cooked through.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F
• For the Stuffing: heat the oil in a large saucepan or skillet
• Add the garlic, spinach, salt, and pepper, and cook for 1 minute to soften the garlic and wilt the spinach
• Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature
• Reserve the cheese and bread and continue with the recipe
• Lay the chicken skin-side down on the work surface and sprinkle with the salt and pepper
• Spread the cool rice or spinach mixture evenly over the chicken
• If using the spinach stuffing, sprinkle the cheese and bread cubes on top of the spinach
• Roll the chicken up, tie with kitchen twine, and place in roasting pan
• Roast the ballottine for 1 hour
• Lift it from the pan and place it on a platter
• For the Sauce: Skim off and discard most of the fat from the drippings in the pan
• Add the water and wine to the drippings to deglaze the pan and heat over medium heat, stirring to loosen and melt the solidified juices
• Strain the juices into a saucepan
• Add the celery, onion, and carrot and bring to a boil over high heat
• Cover, reduce the heat to low, and boil gently for 5 minutes
• Stir in the dissolved potato starch and soy sauce and bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring, to thicken it
• Remove from the heat
• Transfer the ballottine to a cutting board and remove the twine
• Cut half of it into 4 or 5 slices, each about 1 inch thick
• Return the uncut half of the ballottine to the serving platter and arrange the cut slices in front of it
• Pour the sauce over and around the ballottine, garnish with the parsley, and serve
• Cut additional slices of ballottine as needed at the table