I think I just had the best dinner ever. For real. It was amazing. Remember when I bought chicken breast for my pasta the other day and then forgot to use it? Well, I figured I'd use it tonight, but needed to get a fab recipe as I find chicken breast quite boring if not done really well.
Well, I found an awesome recipe, and it actually came from Cooking Light. The recipe was for Gruyère , Arugula, and Prosciutto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Caramelized Shallot Sauce. But I substituted the arugula for spinach. And...Yum. I know I keep saying, "Oh my God, this is SO easy," with everything I make...and you're probably saying, "yeah, sure." But his really was easy. And I think that, like everything in life, you get better at cooking the more you do it. With each meal I make, I get faster and more confident, even when doing something completely new. So cook a lot! And you'll see how easy it becomes.
This recipe called for 6 chicken breast halves, but I only made 2, which meant cutting down on everything else in the recipe. I put the chicken between saran wrap and used my meat mallet to pound the chicken until it was flat.
Then I simply topped each chicken breast with a piece of prosciutto, slice of Gruyère, and some spinach; and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I folded each chicken breast in half, wrapped them in saran, and put them in the fridge. You don't have to let them sit in the fridge before cooking them, but I think it makes them a bit easier to cook later. 
Now you can start on the shallot sauce. I made less than the recipe called for because I had less chicken. I chopped a couple of shallots up and sauteed them in a pan with some oil until they browned. Then I stirred in some tomato paste. I added about a cup of white wine and let it boil and reduce to about ½ cup. Then I added a little over a cup of chicken broth and let it boil and reduce to about half.
Make a little slurry (I LOVE that word) with cornstarch and water and add it to the sauce, stirring for about a minute. This will thicken the sauce right up!
When you're ready to cook the chicken, coat it in some flour and put in a pan with some olive oil. Cook medium-high on each side for about 5 minutes. I may have overstuffed my chicken just a bit, so I just stuck a toothpick in each of them to hold them together. 
Then put the chicken in a shallow baking dish and bake at 350 for another 5 minutes or until it's fully cooked.
Be sure to spoon some of the shallot sauce over the chicken. I served with a little spinach salad and seriously chowed down. The chicken was so extremely flavorful and juicy. I'm not quite sure how this qualifies as "Cooking Light," but I would make it again in a second.
2 Guys Uncorked recommend you try a Sainte-Croix 2006 Syrah-Merlot blend or possibly a Ravenswood Chardonnay 2006 with this lovely chicken. While cooking, I listened To Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, which was perfectly mellow and calm for being in the kitchen on a rainy Monday evening. And now I'm going to bed to dream of my leftovers. Seriously.
[Sues]
ToKissTheCook says
I'm totally making this for dinner party night tomorrow!
L Sass says
I am drooling over here! Must make it soon!
cdp says
Yeah, I'm definitely drooling over this one too. Ever since i made gruyere baked grits a few weeks back to go with bbq shrimp, I am having an intense love affair with cheese. And anything with prosciutto is on my to-eat list for sure. Will probably give this a whirl over the weekend and will be sure to let you know how it turns out. If you're a big fan of the gruyere, please try the cheese grits. I think I put the recipe up on the "cooking" page on my blog. and yes, I do use the term "cooking" quite loosely. I try. But I are definitely not Martha either.
Sara says
lol, i was wondering how this qualifies as "light", too!
Katelin says
that looks delicious!
Ben says
I am loving this recipe! I will have to make it very soon. Thanks for sharing!
Barbara says
yumm that does look nice.
sra says
Sludge in my blog, slurry in yours - the food blog world is using terms from industrial waste! LOL! Thanks for visiting!
Larissa says
I love making stuffed chicken breasts. Yum!
twentysomethingandclueless says
That. Looks. SO. Good! I'm also drooling over here...lol Am kinda excited to move out of my parents' house so I have a reason to cook - and will definitely be referring to this blog for recipes!!
jealous says
I like your blog and this recipe looks so freaking good. I assembled my chicken last night (though sadly I could not find proscuitto) and will cook it tonight! It doesn't look as good as yours, but it looks good. Thanks for sharing!
design for mankind. says
Oh man this looks FANTASTIC! 🙂
How To Eat A Cupcake says
This looks incredible!! 🙂
peteski says
new fanboy me here - looks great. reminds me of s recipe I got tired of looking for, something I saw briefly on Anthony Bourdain Travel ep. It was a chicken breast wrapped around bacon and cheese? maybe? I do chicken a lot but never stuffed breasts, gonna try it.
taylorv says
We made this tonight for dinner. It was super easy as sooooo good. We did smoke gruyere cheese instead of the regular and it was pretty tasty. We'll definitely be making this for friends in the future.