Joan Nova creates a recipe that eventually turns out to be Italian.
Text And Photo By Joan Nova
The recipe is mine. I created it in my English language-thinking brain and, as usual, without much forethought. However, as I started pulling ingredient after ingredient out, the dish took on a life of its own and it began to sing to me…songs like “O Sole Mio” and “Funiculi, Funicula”.
Yes, all the ingredients are commonly found in an Italian kitchen. So to authenticate the decision to call a simple stuffed chicken breast “Italiano” (and for my own amusement), I decided to write the ingredient list in Italian. It was interesting to see how many words I knew (not a lot) before resorting to google translation services. [I don’t know how I lived before google. Amen.]
Stuffed Chicken Breast Italiano on Pumpkin Puree
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Savor the rich and comforting flavors of Italian cuisine with these stuffed chicken breasts, filled with kale, sun-dried tomatoes, and mozzarella, served on a creamy pumpkin puree.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups kale, sautéed with garlic, olive oil, and finished with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup fresh mozzarella, sliced
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup hazelnuts, ground
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup fava bean flour
- 1/2 cup garbanzo flour
- 1 small pumpkin or butternut squash, roasted and pureed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Olive oil, for sautéing and drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Roast the pumpkin or butternut squash in the oven until tender, about 30-40 minutes. Once roasted, scoop out the flesh and puree it until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, sauté kale in olive oil with minced garlic until wilted. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and set aside.
- Split each chicken breast horizontally, creating a pocket. Season the inside and outside with salt and pepper.
- Stuff each chicken breast with sautéed kale, sun-dried tomatoes, and slices of fresh mozzarella. Secure the openings with toothpicks to keep the filling intact.
- In a bowl, combine ground hazelnuts, chopped parsley, fava bean flour, and garbanzo flour to create a coating mixture.
- Coat each stuffed chicken breast with the hazelnut mixture, pressing gently to adhere.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the stuffed chicken breasts on both sides until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Transfer the seared chicken breasts to a baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted.
- Serve the stuffed chicken breasts on a bed of pumpkin puree. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with additional parsley if desired.
Notes
Ensure the chicken breast is tightly sealed to keep the filling intact during baking. Leftover vegetables can be tossed with pasta and the pureed butternut squash can be used as a sauce. The dish can be prepared a day in advance and baked just before serving.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 stuffed chicken breast
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 6
- Sodium: 600
- Fat: 25
- Carbohydrates: 20
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 35
- Cholesterol: 85
And, as often happens in the FOODalogue kitchen, the next day the leftover vegetables were tossed with p-a-s-t-a…and the pureed butternut squash sauced it all together. Delizioso!
This is great, I love the flavors you used
This looks mouthwatering Joan. Yes it’s strange to think how we ever lived without Google, hehe. It’s great you had fun with not only creating the recipe but writing it down.