Cheesy Chicken Florentine

Submitted by HEP MEP

"I found this in the paper a while back, and I absolutely love the taste.(although I'm not "allowed" to make it very often, because the hubby doesn't like Swiss cheese.)It's very,very tasty,and a good way to get your spinach."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 8 ounces thin spaghetti
• 1⁄2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast half
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 large onion (for about 1 cup chopped)
• 1 tablespoon instant minced garlic
• 1⁄4 cup madeira wine (see note)
• 1 (10 ounce) container refridgerated reduced-fat alfredo sauce or (10 ounce) container regular alfredo sauce
• 3⁄4 cup shredded swiss cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package fresh spinach, washed and de-stemmed
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded or grated

directions

1. Cook spaghetti as package directs.
2. Keep warm.
3. Heat oil over medium heat in extra-deep 12-inch,non-stick skillet that has a lid.
4. Peel and coarsely chop onion,adding to the skillet as you chop.
5. Cook,stirring from time to time,while you begin cuttung the chicken into bite-size pieces.
6. This step I do ahead of time.
7. Add the pieces to the skillet.
8. Raise heat to medium-high, and cook and stir until the chicken is no longer pink on the surface,about 3 minutes.
9. Add the garlic and Madeira,and stir and cook 1 minute.
10. Reduce heat to medium, add Alfredo sauce,and stir to mix well.
11. Sprinkle Swiss cheese evenly over the chicken mixture, then place the spinach leaves over the cheese.
12. The pan may seem too full, but the spinach will wilt down.
13. Cover the pan and cook 3 minutes to let the spinach begin to wilt.
14. Uncover, and stir the mixture well.
15. Serve over cooked,drained spaghetti and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese NOTE: Dry sherry or apple juice can be substituted for Madeira wine.

Reviews

[PetsRus]

What a simple but great dish, I like spinach, chicken and pasta and it was nice to have all of them in one dish. Alfredo sauce is not so readily available in the Netherlands but I found it in the end. I used the Madeira and will try it with sherry next time. I kept to the 3 minutes wilting time for the spinach because I was affraid it would all get too wet, and it was fine. I cooked the pasta whilst cooking the rest of the dish, and used a more cheese then you say in the recipe (maybe double?) Thanks Meppie!

 

[evewitch]

I got this recipe from the original source (the Desperation Dinners column - I found it online). I used 1 1/2 lb. of chicken, and per (part of) the original directions, it was frozen solid (IQF) when I started. One of the steps was to microwave the chicken for 3 min. to start it defrosting. I am glad you left this part out, because the final dish was watery using my directions. I found that the flavor was very faint, almost bland. Perhaps it "floated away." I might give it another go with unfrozen chicken, and will also give the rating another go.