Mozzarella and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

     Of course I always prefer fresh foods, but I have to admit that those little frozen stuffed chicken breast are one of my favorite meals. Someday, I'm going to figure out how to make my own chicken Kiev without all the butter leaking out, but in the meantime, I've figured out how to stuff chicken with other things, and to my surprise, it's not hard at all! The only trick involved is to get the chicken thin enough to be able to wrap it around itself, and to achieve that, you have two options: Use a really sharp knife to butterfly it, or for those like myself who are likely to end up butterflying their hands if they try that, beat on it with a meat mallet for a while. The rest is easy, so give it a try!

INGREDIENTS:
4 boneless chicken breasts
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 small onion
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 egg
8 oz fresh mushrooms, roughly chopped
a handful of fresh spinach (optional)
salt and pepper
toothpicks

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a large baking pan.
2. Use a meat mallet to thin out each piece of chicken enough so you'll be able to fill it and wrap the ends together. Lightly season both sides with salt and pepper.
3. In a frying pan, cook the onion and mushrooms in a little olive oil over medium heat for a few minutes until tender. Once those have a good head start, add the spinach if you so choose and cook it until it wilts completely.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg, then lower the heat and add it to the pan, along with the breadcrumbs and cheeses. Stir it all together before you end up with scrambled eggs. It won't look pretty, but it'll stick together. Once the cheese is melted, turn off the heat.

5. Put a couple spoonfuls of filling in the center of each piece of chicken, then wrap both ends on top of each other and secure with 2 or 3 toothpicks. Don't follow my example and use colored toothpicks. That wasn't the best decision...live and learn.

6. The baking time for these depends entirely on their size. I ended up baking mine for 1 hour at 375 plus 15 minutes at 400 and they came out perfect, but you'll just have to check on them from time to time.

     Does that even look like a piece of chicken anymore? Maybe not, but it sure tastes like a good one! Hopefully this is obvious, but remember to remove the toothpicks before serving and I promise they won't fall apart. Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for the simple and delicious side dish I made with these!