Chicken Thighs Ripiene (Stuffed)

I love chicken thighs for their flavor in chicken dishes and when you can stuff them with all sorts of other flavors, what's not to like? This recipe is fairly simple to create ahead of time, baked when guests arrive and very tasty.

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 6 Thighs

Ingredients

• 6  boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 1⁄4 cup pine nuts
• 4  ounces mushrooms
• 1  cup fresh spinach
• 1  teaspoon paprika
• 1  teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1⁄2 cup chicken broth
• 1⁄4 cup fresh basil
• 2  ounces monterey jack cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Wash chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Lay them flat, inside up.
3. Toast the pine nuts in a skillet for 4-5 minutes until golden. Remove to a small bowl.
4. Chop the mushrooms into small coarse pieces and saute in olive oil with salt and pepper until cooked and remove from the heat.
5. Wash and stem the spinach.
6. Chop the spinach into smaller pieces, add to the mushrooms in the skillet and toss in the hot pan to wilt it.
7. Add toasted pine nuts.
8. Add paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and season the filling. This is the easiest place to season the mix to your liking. Sample the filling and vary to your liking.
9. Use a large spoon and put about 2 tablespoons of filling on each chicken thigh, dividing the filling equally.
10. Divide the 3 ounces of Monterey jack cheese evenly across the thighs.
11. Close the thighs with toothpicks. 3 or 4 per thighs should do the trick.
12. Place in a deep pie dish. Drizzle with the chicken broth. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
13. Remove foil, top with chopped basil, remaining cheese and bake for another 15 minutes.
14. Serve and enjoy!