Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken — The Pounded-Stuffed Sunday

Senior prom was Saturday night. I went with a friend group of seven other seniors and no date — not because nobody asked, three different boys asked at different points in March, but because I’d rather spend the night with my friends Olivia, Megan, Lacey, Tomas, Brandon, and the two Tomases (we have two Tomases in the senior class, one with a silent S and one with a hard S, and yes that has been a four-year source of confusion). We went to dinner at Mahogany Steakhouse in Tulsa, eight kids in a booth meant for six, ate seventy-something-dollar steaks our parents had agreed to pay for as a senior treat. We danced for three hours at the venue the school had rented at a country club outside of town. I wore a dress Aunt Linda had altered for me at her place over a weekend in April — a navy floor-length she’d found at a consignment shop in Tulsa for forty dollars and re-tailored to fit me by taking in the bodice and shortening the hem.

Mama took photos in the front yard at six PM with all of us in our prom finery posed in front of the dogwoods. Cody had borrowed a polaroid from a friend at school and took a few of just me and Mama, which he handed to me later in the kitchen and said, “Keep these. Mom won’t look at them now but she’ll want them in five years.” I have them in the back cover of the kitchen Moleskine.

The night was good. The night was not transcendent in the way teen movies promise prom is supposed to be transcendent, and I think it was better for not being transcendent. We danced. We laughed. Olivia and Megan and I went to the bathroom and re-applied lipstick three times together because that is what you do at prom. The DJ played the Whitney Houston song that was Mama’s wedding song from 1982 and I cried for about thirty seconds in the corner before going back out to dance. We were home by midnight. The dress is hanging in my closet and will go to a Sapulpa High junior next April for fifteen dollars.

Sunday I made spinach and feta stuffed chicken because my body wanted protein and bright greens after a Saturday night of dancing in heels for three hours. The dish is the kind of cooking that looks fancier than it is. Boneless skinless chicken breasts — two of them, one for two of us each meal — butterflied open by laying each breast flat and slicing horizontally through the thicker side without going all the way through, then opening the breast like a book. Pounded thin between sheets of plastic wrap with the smooth side of the meat mallet to a uniform quarter-inch thickness across the whole opened breast.

The filling: a ten-ounce bag of fresh baby spinach wilted in olive oil with three cloves of garlic, drained on paper towels and squeezed dry of all the water (this step is critical — wet spinach makes wet stuffed chicken, which won’t sear and won’t hold), chopped fine, and tossed with four ounces of crumbled feta, a half-cup of grated parmesan, an egg yolk to bind, salt, pepper, and a grating of fresh nutmeg.

The pounded breast gets the filling spread evenly across the surface, leaving a half-inch border at the edges, then rolled up jelly-roll style starting from the long edge into a tight cylinder. Toothpicks at three points along the seam to hold the roll closed. The roll gets dredged in seasoned flour (flour, salt, pepper, paprika), seared in a half-and-half mix of olive oil and butter over medium-high heat for two minutes per side until all four sides are golden, and then transferred to the same pan into a three-seventy-five oven for fifteen minutes to finish cooking through.

Rest five minutes off the heat. Pull toothpicks. Slice on the bias into half-inch pinwheel rounds. The pinwheel of stuffing visible in each slice is the visual reward and the reason I’d been wanting to test the butterfly-pound-roll-sear-finish technique — the cross-section is more elegant than the cavity-pocket method I’d used for the pork chops in November, and it presents better on a plate.

Mama and Cody and I ate at the table Sunday night and talked about the prom in the way Mama always wants to talk about high-school events — thoroughly, in detail, with names. Cody asked me three different times during the meal if I’d had fun. I told him each time that I had. He nodded each time like he was filing the answer somewhere. I think he was checking the answer for stability. The third time he just said, “Good,” and went back to his plate.

Squeeze the spinach bone-dry. That’s the seal-the-roll secret. Here’s the build.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Toothpicks or kitchen twine, for securing

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil or lightly grease a cast iron or oven-safe skillet.
2. Make the filling. In a small bowl, combine the chopped spinach, feta, softened cream cheese, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper. Mix until well combined.
3. Prepare the chicken. Pat chicken breasts dry. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep horizontal pocket into the thickest side of each breast, being careful not to cut all the way through.
4. Stuff the chicken. Divide the spinach-feta filling evenly among the four pockets, pressing gently to pack it in. Secure each breast with 1–2 toothpicks to keep the filling from spilling out during cooking.
5. Season the outside. Rub the outside of each stuffed breast with olive oil, then sprinkle with paprika, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining black pepper.
6. Sear for color. Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken for 2–3 minutes per side until golden brown. (Skip this step if you prefer to go straight to the oven — it just adds color and flavor.)
7. Bake until cooked through. Transfer skillet or move chicken to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
8. Rest before serving. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before removing toothpicks and slicing. Serve with a simple salad, rice, or roasted vegetables.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 42g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 3g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 620mg