I know what you’re thinking…. that picture above is NOT a Week-night meal, but bear with me….

 

This ricotta-stuffed chicken takes about 1 hour from grocery bag to dinner table, and half of that time it’s in the oven, while you can unwind from the day, grab a glass of wine, surf Facebook, or do any of the other rituals that cue the end of the work day, and that are so essential for our nightly relaxation.

 

For me, I would typically come home from work and begin the dish almost as soon as I walked in the door; once in the oven, I would go take a nice hot shower to relax, and by the time I got out, the chicken was just about ready to come out of the oven. It was perfect.

And more than just an easy and quick mid-week meal, this dish is utterly indulgent; the chicken is perfectly tender, the ricotta, wine & garlic make it feel much more sophisticated than its 10 minutes of prep time deserve, and broiling it at the end makes the skin crispy and golden.

 

Week-night meals don’t have to be just stir-fry, pour-from-a-bag, nukeable re-fueling exercises; with an extra 15 minutes, they can be self-indulgent, delicious, homemade meals that you crave, like this Ricotta Stuffed Chicken with Grapefruit & Spinach.

Enjoy!

Click here for a printed version of the recipe

Ricotta Stuffed Chicken with Grapefruit & Spinach, Serves 4

Adapted from Pan-Roasted Guinea Fowl with Pomegranates & Spinach in Happy Days with the Naked Chef

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Chicken, cut up into pieces

1 Cup Ricotta Cheese

2 Tbls. Thyme, chopped

1 Tsp. Pepper

1 tsp. Salt

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

2 Tbls. Butter

5 Tbls. Garlic, chopped

2/3 Cup White Wine

1 Grapefruit, skinned and rough chopped

2 Cups Baby Spinach Leaves

 

Preparation:

 

Mix the ricotta cheese, 2 tsp. of the chopped garlic, and salt & pepper in a bowl and combine thoroughly.

 

Slip two fingers between the skin and meat of each of the pieces of chicken to make a space large enough to insert 2 tsps. of ricotta mixture. Stuff the 2 tsps. of ricotta into each chicken piece and pull the skin down to lightly seal it in.

 

Place the oven rack at the top of the oven, and preheat to 425°.

 

Heat the olive oil in a oven-proof saute pan over medium heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Pan roast the chicken pieces, with the exception of the breast, for 5 minutes, ricotta-stuffed side up. Add the butter, remaining garlic, wine, and the breast to the pan and roast, uncovered, in the oven for 25 minutes.

 

Set the oven to broil and remove the pan from the oven, add the grapefruit, and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, return to the stove top on medium heat, and add the spinach until it wilts.

 

Plate the pieces of chicken, pour the pan sauce over, and serve.