Chicken Breast Stuffed with Ricotta & Spinach

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 150 g baby spinach, wilted, squeezed dry, and chopped
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 200 g ricotta
• 50 g parmesan, grated
• 0.5 tsp nutmeg
• 4 large chicken breasts, about 200g each
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• lemon wedges and rocket salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Wilt the spinach in a hot dry pan for about 2 minutes until collapsed and dark green, then tip onto a board and squeeze out every drop of liquid with your hands — wet spinach makes a sloppy filling that leaks straight out of the chicken. Chop finely.
2. In a bowl, fold together the ricotta, chopped spinach, parmesan, garlic, nutmeg, and chilli flakes. Season generously with salt and black pepper, then taste — the filling should taste bold and properly salted, because the chicken around it is mild and won't carry it for you.
3. Lay each chicken breast flat and cut a deep horizontal pocket into the thickest side, stopping short of cutting all the way through. Season the inside of each pocket, and the outside, with salt and pepper before it goes anywhere near the pan.
4. Spoon the ricotta mixture generously into each pocket and pin the opening shut with 2–3 toothpicks so the filling stays put during cooking.
5. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sear the chicken in two batches if your pan is tight — don't crowd the pan or the breasts steam in their own moisture instead of taking colour. 3 minutes per side, until deeply golden and releasing easily from the pan. The garlic in the filling is protected inside the pocket, but if any pokes out, watch it — burnt garlic turns the whole thing bitter in seconds.
6. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 15–18 minutes, until the chicken reads 68°C at the thickest part and the filling is hot and just beginning to bubble at the edges. The temperature carries up to 72°C as it rests.
7. Rest the chicken for 3 minutes on a board, then pull out every toothpick — count them in, count them out. Taste a sliver of the filling that's escaped: adjust salt now, not at the table.
8. Slice thickly on the diagonal to show the green-and-white spiral inside. Plate the chicken, pile the rocket salad alongside, and finish each plate with a squeeze of lemon over the top — the acid cuts through the rich ricotta and lifts everything you've just built.