As a mother of six, there are so many moments that provide great amounts of laughter, and they are the ones that help balance me against the moments that do the opposite.
During this past week of intense craziness, my sweet three year old provided many comic relief breaks that my sanity needed to keep itself in check. Three year olds are great for that! I was in the midst of a time sensitive work project that wasn’t going very well when my baby girl asked me if she could have some cheese. Assuming she meant a cheese stick, I told her to go grab it out of the fridge. When I came out of the office to check on her a few minutes later, this is what I found. How can you not laugh loudly at something like that and take a few minutes to realize that deadlines, work and projects aren’t nearly as important as they seemed a few seconds ago?
Thanks to all my kids who provide me with those perfectly timed moments of perspective that I tend to lose on a daily basis. All six of you help keep me in check.
Since apparently my three year old has a love affair with cheese as big as her Mommy’s, I knew she would adore these cheesy rollatinis. And she did, along with the rest of the family! In fact, my 9 year old declared that they were her “favorite form of chicken.”
Don’t be intimidated by the multiple steps of this recipe. It really does go much faster and easier than you would ever think. I gave myself an hour to prep the chicken, thinking that is what I would need, but the prep was done in less than 30 minutes….including time for picture taking along the way.
If you have never had to cut a chicken breast in half, don’t worry because it is also very easy. Just be sure your knife is sharp and then get to it! No perfect cuts are necessary here so don’t worry about messing up. You will be so thrilled with this recipe and it is gorgeous/delicious enough for entertaining as well!
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Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 4 lbs
- 8 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry of liquid
- 2/3 C part skim ricotta cheese
- 1/4 C freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
- 1 egg
- 2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced (I use a microplane)
- 1/2 C italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 eggs, beaten with a dash of milk
- 1 C marinara sauce
- salt and pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Lay one chicken breast on a cutting board with what would have been the skin side up. Place your hand on top, and using a chef’s knife, cut the breast down the middle being sure to stop before cutting all the way through. Open the breast so the cut surface is exposed, cover with plastic wrap and lightly pound the chicken to an even thickness. Season both sides of the chicken well with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining breasts.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, half of the mozzarella, half of the parmesan, garlic and 1 egg. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper to the mixture. Evenly divide and spread the filling on the inside cut side of the chicken. Roll up the chicken and place it seam side down on the work surface.
3. On a plate, mix together the bread crumbs and the remaining parmesan cheese. Place your 2 beaten eggs with the dash of milk in a small bowl. Dip each breast first in the eggs, then roll them into the breadcrumbs to coat. Place them on your greased baking dish seam side down.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with marinara sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 3-4 minutes. Serve with marinara sauce
Oh my gosh … what a wonderful supper these would make! Your little sprout gave me a chuckle too … just grab a fork and go at that cheese little one! Hahahaha!
Thanks for the recipe – I’ve printed it off ready to add the ingredients to my shopping list 🙂
Love the pic of your daughter – priceless!
I am trying this recipe for dinner tonight but noticed that garlic was included in recipe ingredients not in the steps. Which caused me to forget to add to recipe. Hope it doesnt make a difference in taste. Ill let you know how it comes out. Fyi, it looks delicious in the pics 🙂
So sorry nicole! Thank you for pointing that out and I will make that change!
This looks amazing!!!! I doubled it so we could eat some and I could bring to a friend with a new baby! Any suggestions on what to do with the extra spinach filling? I cannot wait to eat it. I love your blog!
Courtney- I can’t believe you had filling left over! I had to scrape the bowl to fill my last piece of chicken. You can stir the leftover filling into some hot pasta and drizzle on some tomato sauce. Yum!
This recipe is delicious, but the prep did take longer than 30 minutes, so make sure you account for more prep time.
Thanks Nicole for your feedback
Love reading your recipes! You make it sound delicious easy and fun! Can’t wait to try this recipe out!
Thanks for your kind words Amy
This was really great! And so easy…Have bookmarked this one!
Love to hear it Sara! Thanks for coming back and look around to find another recipe to give a try
I made this recipe for dinner tonight – my family loved it. I didn’t bread the chicken and it was still delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Laura – so glad your family loved it and I really like the idea of not using breading to make it a great low-carb version! Thanks for sharing -Carole
You can also grind up plain pork rinds to use as a low carb friendly breading instead of bread crumbs 😉 It works really well, and since they are usually already at least salted, you don’t really have to season the crumbs, unless you want to add some parmesan, garlic, or maybe some parsley. The possibilities are endless, and delicious! It makes a terrific crispy breading!
I love that tip Crystal! Thanks so much for sharing -Carole
Can you make everything and after freeze the chicken until you are ready to bake it?
Kiki – I have never frozen this dish but I think it would work well! If you try it, be sure to come back and let me know how it turned out -Carole
This turned out delicious. In response to the comment it took more than 30 min., in my experience it only took 20 min of prep time. So it depends on the individual. Quick and delicious!
Thanks for your feedback Barbara and I am so glad you loved it as much as we did -Carole
I tried this recipe today, everyone in my family absolutely loved it. The chicken turned out to be so tender and tasty. Its also healthier than so many of the things that i usually make. Thankyou for this awesome recipe 😀
I tried your Amish potato rolls recipe as well by the way. Cant stop eating them.
Thanks so much Syeda for your kind comment! I love that this recipe was such a hit and I couldn’t agree more with the Amish Potato Rolls!!!! -Carole
Am trying this recipe tonight with one of my former Culinary Arts students. She found the recipe on Pinterest I believe. I want to add some Bella mushrooms to the sauce and try it that way! We are making Whole wheat Penne and garlic bread and some monstrosity of a cheesecake ( I’ll have to control myself since I’m diabetic) but I’ll watch the serving size on the pasta and add green salad. I picked up Pankp Italian bread crumbs by mistake but I bet they will be great. I may sauté some of those Bella mushrooms And put them with the sauce on top for mine! Love those!
I really love the idea of the added mushrooms Ann and I agree that you should saute them first! Enjoy your feast 🙂
Looks great, but since my husband is on a carb light diet at the moment, I think I will sauté the chicken after pounding it so it doesn’t look so pale.
Sounds good Jo. You could also coat it in some almond flour and parmesan cheese to keep it low carb!
I love this recipe! I make it for the family I nanny for all the time.
Quick question… Have you ever froze it and eaten it later? If so, should I assemble and freeze raw? Or cook it and then freeze it?
Thanks!
Great question Annie! I have never frozen it but I think it would freeze beautifully. I would freeze it uncooked, individually on a cookie sheet. Once they are frozen, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then you can bake one or two instead of a whole batch.
I made this tonight and everybody loved it! I have to say, I didn’t have ricotta cheese so I used cottage cheese. My son said, mom you have to this again. Next time I’ll try it with ricotta. Thanks for sharing
I’m so glad you have it a try Lilia! It is one of our favorites
Made this last night for dinner. Prepped after lunch and refrigerated until dinner time… I think it really helped set it together better. Cooked beautifully! And oh so yummy!
So love to hear about your success Megan! This is definitely a yummy one -Carole
could I prepare this 2 days earlier and keep in fridge.
Hi Lyn! That would work just fine. Good luck
This recipe was great. My family loved it!
Not always easy to please the family, so I am glad this one was a hit for you Beatrice!
I really love this chicken recipe! it’s so original. I actually mentioned it in one of my blog post so here it is if you want to check it out http://www.katikate.com/what-i-eat-in-a-day/ 🙂
Looks great Catherine! Thanks for sharing it with your readers
What an awesome dish! Made it for my boyfriend while on vacation and got engaged the next day!! I’m thinking it was because of this delicious meal
Congratulations Joyce! I’m glad it was so successful of a recipe for you….on so many levels 🙂
I made this dish last night and it was a HIT! My picky family enjoyed it. It looked and tasted like something we would have ordered from a restaurant. I am learning to cook at home more because we eat out a lot. I couldn’t believe I actually cooked something like this and it was not difficult.
Hey Karen! I’m so glad the recipe was a huge hit for you and your family 🙂