Gruyere, Baby Spinach, and Prosciutto--Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Caramelized Shallot Sauce Recipe

Another recipe I found in Cooking Light, but modified a bit. The original recipe called for arugula, but I substituted baby spinach. This is a great recipe to make if you are having guests over for dinner--it's not as difficult as you may think, and it looks impressive and is very tasty. (6 servings)

Ingredients

  • 6 (4-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast halves)
  • 6 (1/2 ounce) slices good quality prosciutto
  • 6 (1/2 ounce) slices Gruyere cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups baby spinach
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup thinly sliced shallots
  • 2 teaspoons tomato paste
  • 2 cups dry white wine
  • 2 1/4 cups chicken stock (or canned broth if you don't have homemade stock)
  • 1 1/2 water
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions

Preheat over to 350. To prepare the chicken, place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4 inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Discard plastic wrap. Top each chicken breast half with 1 slice prosciutto, 1 slice cheese, and 1/4 spinach, leaving a 1/4 inch border around edges. Fold in half, pinching edges together to seal; sprinkle with salt and pepper.(The chicken can be prepared up to a day ahead and refrigerated at this point--I really recommend doing this, as it does make it much easier to sauté chicken when it has been refrigerated overnight)

Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes on each side. Place chicken in a shallow baking pan; bake at 350 for 5 minutes or until done. Keep warm.

To prepare sauce, add shallots to skillet; sauté 4 minutes over medium-high heat or until browned. Add tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 6 minutes). Add stock or broth; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half (about 8 minutes).

Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to sauce; bring to boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly until sauce is to desired thickness. Serve immediately over the chicken breasts (about 1/4 cup sauce per serving)