Chicken Marcela

After a month of schlepping between hotels and a temporary apartment, our complex has finally set us up with a mold-and-flood-free new apartment! We move in three days. You would think that with two meeting planners we would have everything together, unfortunately for us, we have procrastinated packing. In order to get us in the packing mood we decided to make a big Italian dinner, Chicken Marcela! When we went to the grocery store this week we had difficulty finding a nice Marcela wine to make this dish, so instead we are substituting it for a Cabernet Sauvignon which should provide a nice body for the sauce. This is one of our favorite dishes because not only does it pair perfectly with wine, it is integral for the sauce!

Chicken Marcela
Original recipe yields 3-4 servings.

3 large chicken breasts
1 pound of spaghetti noodles
5 oz of sliced baby portabella mushrooms
¾ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
¾ cup of fresh spinach
3 slices of prosciutto
Freshly ground sea salt, nutmeg, and black pepper (for seasoning)
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley
1 ½ cups of chicken broth
½ cup of Marcela wine (or substitute with a heavy red)
2 tablespoons of flour
4 tablespoons of margarine

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.
2. Chop baby portabella mushrooms and add to skillet, sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes. Put mushrooms aside in bowl.
3. Butterfly cut 3 large chicken breasts.
4. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over chicken breast. Add one slice of prosciutto to each chicken breast. Chop spinach and sprinkle over chicken.
5. Fold chicken breast shut. Season with sea salt, nutmeg and black pepper.
6. Add remaining butter and 1 tablespoons of olive oil to warm skillet. Add chicken to skillet and panfry for 5 minutes on each side. Allowing each side to lightly brown.
7. Remove chicken from pan and place in oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
8. In a large stock pot bring 6 cups of water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente (7-10 minutes).
9. Deglaze skillet with wine and chicken broth. Add garlic and allow to simmer.
10. Return mushrooms to skillet and mix.
11. Plate chicken and pasta and cover with mushroom Marcela sauce.

Too bad I still don’t really feel like packing!

Hectic Monday
H&M