Prep: 55 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total: 1 hr 25 mins
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium
This one starts with a whole roasted garlic bulb — 45 minutes in the oven until it's soft, sweet, and spreadable — and builds from there. Ricotta, asiago, parmesan, spinach, and artichoke hearts all get blended into a rich, creamy filling that gets stuffed right into butterflied chicken breasts. It's the kind of dinner that looks impressive on the plate but comes together with simple ingredients and a food processor.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded thinly
- 16 oz ricotta cheese
- 5 oz spinach
- 12 artichoke hearts
- ½ tsp salt, plus more for seasoning
- ½ tsp white pepper, plus more for seasoning
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 whole bulb of garlic
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ cup shredded Asiago cheese
- Dried rosemary, for seasoning
Directions
- 1Cut about ½ inch from the top of the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap tightly in tin foil. Roast at 400°F for about 45 minutes until soft and golden.
- 2Preheat oven to 425°F.
- 3Butterfly each chicken breast and pound with a meat mallet until about ½ inch thick.
- 4In a food processor on low speed, blend ricotta, Asiago, Parmesan, salt, white pepper, roasted garlic (squeezed from the bulb), and olive oil until smooth.
- 5Still on low speed, add artichoke hearts and spinach and pulse until they are chopped in and incorporated — you want texture, not a puree.
- 6Stuff each chicken breast with the ricotta mixture, fold to form the chicken around the filling, and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, white pepper, dried rosemary, and a drizzle of olive oil.
- 7Bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165°F.
Tips & Variations
- Don't rush the roasted garlic — the full 45 minutes transforms it from sharp and pungent to sweet and mellow. It's worth the time.
- Pulse the spinach and artichokes in on low speed so they stay chunky. Over-blending makes the filling too smooth and it can leak out during baking.
- Secure the stuffed chicken with toothpicks if needed to keep the filling inside while it bakes.
- Pairs beautifully with roasted summer squash, as shown — just slice, season with salt, pepper, and olive oil, and roast alongside the chicken.