Chicken Scallops With Spinach And Blue Cheese

Submitted by Miss Annie

"Wilted fresh spinach with a little olive oil has lots of flavor to complement the blue cheese and pine nuts. Most of the work can be done ahead of time and the dish completed in the oven just before serving."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lbs fresh Baby Spinach, stemmed,washed,and drained,but not dried
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 chicken breast halves, pounded into cutlets
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Pour half the olive oil into a very large frying pan to film the bottom.
3. Over low heat, gradually add the spinach by handfuls, cover, and stir from time to time as it cooks down.
4. When all the spinach is barely wilted, put it in a sieve and press out most of the moisture.
5. Spread the spinach in a wide, shallow ovenproof dish and set aside.
6. Salt and pepper the chicken cutlets on both sides.
7. Add the remaining oil to the pan and over medium-high heat saute the chicken, turning to color it golden on both sides.
8. When the chicken is done, lay the cutlets on the spinach.
9. In a small bowl, mix together the pine nuts and blue cheese.
10. Scatter this mixture over the chicken (This much can be done ahead).
11. Bake the chicken until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the chicken and spinach are piping hot, about 15 minutes.
12. Serve at once.

Reviews

[rsarahl]

Oh, the madness! It's a dynamite flavor rush and has to be my new favorite! I added a little minced garlic(1 Tbsp) when sauteing the chicken(just because I love garlic!) The spinach got a little saucy which was nice. The seared chicken cutlets were moist and along with a bite of tender garlicky spinach, sweet pine nuts and tangy bluecheese, we had many delightful mouthfuls! I used 4 Tbsp pine nuts and probably closer to 4 oz of blue cheese since I sprinkled some on the spinach before adding the chicken.

 

[MrsEl]

Thank you, Miss Annie, for another YUMMY dish. (Even my DH who isn't very fond of blue cheese really liked this dish.) And thanks for specifying that part of this recipe could be "done ahead". (I especially LOVE a good recipe that can be partially done ahead.) I first toasted the pine nuts in a large frying pan before cooking the spinach, then the chicken in the same pan. One-pan, easy cleanup! Thank you for a company-worthy recipe.

 

[The Romantic Chef]

I was looking for inspiration for dinner and found this recipe. I didn't have spinach or pine nuts on hand, so I substituted those with fresh asparagus and sliced almonds. I pre-cooked the asparagus a little longer to soften it and then cut up the chicken into good size chunks to layer over the asparagus. I used more sliced almonds than the nut amount you called for. Delicious; I will definitely make it again. it's a recipe that can be easily adjusted with what you have on hand.

 

[Laurita]

Oh, yummy! I can't wait for lunch for the leftovers. I love blue cheese, seems like I'm loving it more lately. I also couldn't quickly locate the pine nuts and walnuts were on sale - they were an absolutely fabulous substitute! I also put garlic with the spinach...this is another special meal with very few ingredients. Easy and excellent, thanks again for a great post! Love it!

 

[Paja9203]

This was nice. I undercooked the chicken a little so that it was still moist after being in the oven. I love blue cheese, but the flavour was very mild. The pine nuts were kind of a non-entitity in the taste department. I am always looking to keep things healthy and calorie-wise so things like cheese and nuts have to bring a lot of flavour to make them worth-while in a recipe. I wasn't sure that the extra calories and fat in this recipe were warranted, although I would have been delighted to have been served this in a restaurant. I used maybe one or two teaspoons of olive oil to saute the spinach and I thought that was a great way to cook spinach, I will do that again. So, all in all a recipe I may make again, but for me, maybe not the best use of ultra healthy boneless/skinless chicken breasts.