Roasted Whole Chicken Breasts With Green Stuffing

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3 whole chicken breasts, not split (preferably organic)
• 1 lb baby spinach, stemmed and washed
• 1 head garlic
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 cup fresh basil leaf, stemmed and washed
• 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup sweet butter
• 1 1/2 cups dry white
• 2 lbs red potatoes
• 1/2 lb shiitake mushroom, cleaned and woody stems removed,thinly sliced
• 1/2-1 cup chicken stock
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 prepare medium sized roasting pan with rack by coating rack with olive oil (should be a roasting pan no larger than necessary to hold the three breasts and that can be placed on top of the stove for making the sauce)
• 2 peel and roughly chop 4 cloves of garlic
• 3 roughly chop spinach
• 4 tear basil into small pieces
• 5 place large skillet over high heat
• 6 when hot, add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, spinach and basil
• 7 grate fresh nutmeg into skillet
• 8 stir fry until greeens are wilted and soft
• 9 remove from heat and set aside to cool
• 10 clean chicken breasts and remove any obvious clumps of fat or protruding skin
• 11 preheat oven to 425°f
• 12 with your fingers, gently loosen skin from flesh of the chicken breasts
• 13 again, gently, stuff greens mixture between the skin and the flesh of the breasts
• 14 massage the surface of the breasts to evenly distribute the stuffing
• 15 cut each lemon in half lengthwise (stem to end)
• 16 rub the outside of the chicken breasts with butter
• 17 squeeze the juice of one half of one lemon over the breasts and sprinkle the breasts with salt and pepper
• 18 split the whole head of garlic into cloves; do not peel
• 19 scatter the garlic gloves in the bottom of the roasting pan
• 20 scrub potatoes; do not peel
• 21 if very small, leave whole; if larger, cut in half
• 22 scatter potatoes in the bottom of the roasting pan
• 23 place the three whole breasts, skin side down, on the oiled rack
• 24 place a lemon half in the cavity of each breast
• 25 roast 20 minutes
• 26 baste with a third of the white
• 27 carefully (without tearing the skin of the breast if possible) turn breast skin side up, placing lemon in cavity beneath each breast
• 28 baste with pan juices
• 29 roast another 20 minutes
• 30 turn oven down to 375°f
• 31 baste with pan juices; if there is not sufficient liquid in the pan, add more white and/or water
• 32 roast another 10-12 minutes
• 33 check for doneness
• 34 remove from oven; tent with foil and allow to rest for at least ten to fifteen minutes
• 35 remove excess fat from pan (there should be very little)
• 36 remove potatoes and keep warm
• 37 remove garlic cloves and squeeze out roasted garlic into the roasting pan
• 38 place pan on stovetop over medium heat
• 39 add mushrooms and allow to saute without stirring for 1 - 2 minutes
• 40 turn mushrooms and saute another minute
• 41 turn heat to high and add remaining and 1/2 to 1 cup of chicken broth
• 42 scrape to deglaze and simmer until slightly reduced
• 43 taste for seasoning
• 44 (optional) whisk in 1 - 2 tablespoons of butter
• 45 note: this is lovely served on a bed of steamed fresh spinach