Ricotta, Spinach, and Sun-Dried Tomato-Stuffed Chicken

Tonight’s dinner was probably one of the best I’ve made in MONTHS. Actually, it’s probably one of the few “real” dinners (aka, not a sandwich) that I’ve made in quite a while…and it was soooo worth it!

I found this recipe on myrecipes.com last night, which actually originally came from Cooking Light(!) but I made a few changes to make it “Courtney-fied” The measurements of ingredients you’ll see below are for two servings, but if you’d like to see the recipe for four, click here.

Ricotta, Spinach, & Sun-Dried Tomato-Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

1 cups boiling water
5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 big handfuls of fresh baby spinach (I didn’t measure, just eyeballed it)
heaping 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Preparation

(**Before preparing tonight’s meal, I marinated the chicken in some of my favorite dressing: Kraft Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette. I let is sit for about 4 hours, so the flavor was phenomenal.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine boiling water and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain and chop.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, oregano, and garlic; cook 3 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add spinach; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Place spinach mixture in a bowl; cool 5 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

Slice each breast half lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, other side. Open halves, laying breast flat. Place each breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

Divide spinach mixture into 2 equal portions; spoon each down center of each breast half, leaving a 1/2-inch border at each end. Fold breast sides over filling.

Place in a baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven and top with an extra sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and fresh basil, if desired. ENJOY!