Chicken Florentine
In the style of Florence Italy, fresh sautéed spinach is combined with chicken breasts, tenders or thighs and combined with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses and Italian herbs for a delicious, healthful baked chicken dish.
"Florentine" in culinary parlance means something prepared in the style of the Florence region of Italy, and the Internet takes a lot of liberty with what is generally considered a classic preparation that has two features: fresh spinach that has been sautéed in butter and Mornay Sauce. A Mornay Sauce is a Béchamel Sauce with melted cheese, generally Gruyère. A Béchamel Sauce is a Roux made into a sauce with milk. So I, too, am taking some liberty by calling this recipe "Florentine," but somehow, it sounded better than the inspiration for this recipe, which was called "Cheesy Chicken Spinach Bake" from a website called Diethood. I give credit for its discovery to My Number One Fan.
I don't make a Mornay Sauce with this dish, but I did use plenty of cheese and as usual, I made some modification to the original recipe, which used Feta Cheese. In case you didn't know, and clearly the author didn't either, Feta does not melt well. I used Parmesan instead.
This dish works equally well with boneless skinless chicken breasts, boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenders. Cooking times will vary for each, however.
Chicken Florentine
Ingredients
- 4 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts, or 6 boneless/skinless chicken thighs, or 1.25 lbs chicken tenders
- 12 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 4 oz whipped cream cheese (like, Philadelphia Whipped)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 tbs Italian Seasonings
- 1 tbs onion powder
- 1 tbs garlic powder
- 4 tbs olive oil
- 2 tbs butter
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
- 10-12 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
- Whichever chicken you use, make sure that it has been drained and dried well on paper towels.
- Using half the olive oil, rub each side of the chicken with the olive oil, then liberally apply the Italian Seasonings, onion powder and garlic powder on both sides of each piece. Add some salt and pepper to your liking.
- Place the chicken seam-side down if using breasts,or the rough side of the thighs down in a shallow baking dish dusted with non-stick cooking spray. For tenders, it doesn't matter. Cook chicken breasts or tenders for 15 minutes. Cook chicken thighs for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, heat the remaining olive oil and the butter over medium heat, and sauté the spinach, uncovered. Allow it to wilt completely and any liquid to evaporate.
- Add the cream cheese to the spinach, mix well and allow it to melt.
- Remove the chicken from the oven, and turn them over. Put equal amounts of the spinach and cream cheese mixture on top of each piece of chicken.
- Add the Parmesan cheese and then the Mozzarella cheese on top of the spinach, and return the chicken breasts or tenders to the oven for 20-25 minutes; thighs for 30-35 minutes. The cheese should be lightly browned and bubbly.
