Picnic Chicken Pinwheels

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Picnic Chicken Pinwheels

This recipe is a bit labour-intensive up front. But once it's made, it's great cold in a picnic basket, or as a leftover dinner on a hot night. Yes, it's got spinach in it…maybe a way to get your kids to eat it?

  • 4 cups tightly packed fresh spinach leaves
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 tbsp parsley (chopped fresh flat-leaf )
  • 3 Egg (large)
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • 1 pinch Pepper
  • 1 pinch nutmeg (of grated )
  • 1 clove garlic (mashed clove)
  • 2 pounds chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, pounded flat)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Ketchup or store-bought (or homemade!)
  • 1 cup pine nuts (toasted pine nuts (optional))

Make the filling

  1. Bring 1/2-inch of water to a boil in a wide pot.

  2. Add the spinach and cook until it just wilts, about 1 minute.

  3. Drain the spinach well. let it cool.

  4. Use your hands to squeeze any water from the spinach and then set on a cutting board.

  5. Coarsely chop the spinach and then set in a medium bowl.

  6. Add the ricotta, the 1 egg, parsley, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg, and optional pine nuts. Combine.

Stuff the chicken

  1. Place an equal amount of the ricotta filling in the centre of each breast that has been pounded flat.

  2. Fold 2 sides of each breast partially over the filling and then tightly roll it up to seal the filling inside.

  3. Place the flour, lightly-beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs on separate plates.

  4. Then dip chicken in: flour, eggs, crumbs.

  5. Place the oil in a large skillet set over medium, to medium-high heat.

  6. When hot, add the chicken, lightly brown on all sides, and then set on a foil-lined baking sheet, seam-side down.

  7. Bake the chicken 30-40 minutes, at 375 until cooked through.

  8. Allow chicken to cool, before serving.

  9. Slice in disks, and serve with ketchup or tomato pasta sauce for dipping.

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