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Title: Chicken Breast With Spinach, Mushrooms And Fontina Cheese
Categories: Chicken, Italian
Yield: 4 Servings

4 Chicken breasts
1/2 lb Mushrooms; Porcini or
-Chanterelles are preferred
-but a Crimini or a white
-button would suffice just
-as well.
1/2 lb Fontina cheese (you can
-substitute Asiago or a
-Provolone cheese if you
-cannot find Fontina)
1/2 c White wine
3 tb Extra virgin olive or other
-quality oil
1 tb Butter
1 ts Oregano
1 ts Fresh thyme
1 cl Garlic; up to 2, minced
1 tb Paprika (your choice of
-either hot or mild)
Salt and pepper; to taste
12 oz Pre-washed baby spinach; up
-to 16 oz, thoroughly washed
-with stems removed and
-coarsely chopped

I developed this dish when living in the Venato region of Conselve,
Italy in 1978 after a night out with Italian friends who suggested the
Saltambico. I won my now wife's heart with an earlier version when I
moved to Albuquerque, NM to work at the Defense Nuclear Agency and
met her and her 3 year old daughter. Alas, it was an Asiago cheese
from the military commissary instead of Fontina, but still good. I
still serve this around our anniversary as our special tradition for
25 years now. This recipe is a fairly healthy departure from the
traditional Saltambico or Cordon Bleu style chicken, the ham and
cheese smothered in rich cream sauces found in many European regional
cooking. This version is very lean, yet rich in flavor. The Fontina
cheese adding it's earthy mushroom flavor to the sauté mushrooms and
the textural components of the spinach balancing against the chicken.

Heat a skillet, add the EVOO. Season the chicken breasts with salt and
pepper to taste and cook from 8-10 minutes on both sides in the
skillet to an internal temperature of approximately 155 to 160°F, do
not overcook as it will dry the chicken out. Remove chicken, cover
with foil and place where they will stay warm.

Melt the 1 tb butter and add 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms to pan. Sauté
for 2 to 4 minutes until done, stir in the minced garlic, sauté for
an additional minute or two. Add the 1/2 cup of white wine, 1 ts
Oregano and 1 ts fresh Thyme. Cook until the liquid is reduced by a
half, about another 4 to 5 minutes, this concentrates the flavors.
Remove approximately 1/2 of the mushrooms to a bowl to top the
breasts later. Add the washed spinach to the pan. Cook until wilted,
add 1/8 ts grated nutmeg and the juice of 1/2 lemon to the mushroom
sauté, salt to taste, strain any liquid into the bowl with the
mushroom mixture you previously set aside, lightly press to remove a
bit more liquid. Set this mixture aside with the chicken to stay warm.

Turn a broiler to high to preheat.

Arrange the chicken breasts in a shallow oven proof dish or pan, a
9x13" Corning pan is perfect to hold 4 breasts. Place and flatten 1
to 2 tb of mushroom/spinach mixture on each chicken breast.

Cover each breast with a slice of Fontina cheese and spoon the
remaining mushrooms and some of the reserved pan sauce over each
breast Place in the preheated broiler until cheese begins to melts
and slightly browns on top, remove and sprinkle with paprika.

Serve with a mushroom risotto or a dish of Canellini (Great Northern)
beans, Canned are perfectly acceptable if rinsed & well-drained.
Seasoned with a mash of garlic, parsley, thyme, olive oil, salt, and
pepper. A mixed spring green salad side along with a crisp dry
Sauvignon Blanc or perhaps a bit sweeter Chenin Blanc is also a
perfect accompaniment.

Recipe by Gunner, 2006

Recipe FROM: <https://web.archive.org/web/20170327150132/
http://recfoodcooking.org/sigs/Gunner/
Chicken Breast with Spinach%2C Mushrooms and Fontina cheese.html>

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