Try this Chicken Florentine recipe, or contribute your own.
- 2 t butter
- 1 t dried basil
- 12-15 chicken tenders ( i had plenty of tenders made for another
- 1 bunch of fresh spinach
- 1 large shallot finely chopped
- 1 t sea salt
- 1/2 t red pepper flakes
- 1/2 t nutmeg
- 3 t white wine
- 1 t lemon juice
- 3 1/2 t corn starch
- 2 c 1 % milk
- 1/2 c chicken stock
- 3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 small ripe tomatoes sliced
- Carbohydrate 6.74420912613817 g
- Cholesterol 38.0700000063739 mg
- Fat 13.6519181267006 g
- Fiber 0.381201259669662 g
- Protein 3.63587019026681 g
- Saturated Fat 8.48671601346846 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (85g)
- Sodium 110.754168840555 mg
- Sugar 6.36300786646851 g
- Trans Fat 0.94568725009357 g
- Calories 163 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large skillet, saute spinach in butter and olive oil over medium high heat until it just wilts. Remove from skillet. Drain in a colander and set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, melt butter. Add shallot and saute for 2 minutes over medium heat.
- In a medium bowl, mix corn starch with milk using a wire whisk.
- Pour milk mixture into the cooked shallot in the saucepan. Add the salt, basil, red pepper flakes and nutmeg. Continue cooking and whisking until the mixture starts to thicken.
- When it really begins getting thick, add the lemon juice, wine and mayonnaise.
- Continue whisking until the mixture is creamy. Add the drained spinach to the cream sauce.
- Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Or use the same skillet the sauteed spinach was cooked in.
- Add the chicken tenders to spinach cream sauce and turn them to fully coat in the sauce.
- Sprinkle on the shredded cheese, followed by the sliced tomatoes and some extra dried basil.
- Bake 25 minutes until cheese starts to get golden and bubbly. Let rest for 3-4 minutes before dishing out. We had this with a side salad. It would also be wonderful on top of pasta, but we went lighter this time. ;-)
How does a sauce made with low-fat milk manage to coat the back of a spoon without breaking into a watery mess? When preparing dishes featuring poultry and leafy greens, cooks often wonder how to build body into a dairy-based sauce without relying entirely on heavy cream. Cornstarch requires adequate heat and constant agitation to gelatinize its starch granules fully, trapping liquid within a stable network before it hits the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Without this initial stovetop thickening phase, the milk and chicken stock would simply thin out during baking.
Adapting Starches and Dairy for Dietary Needs
Modifying this assembly for alternative diets requires understanding the underlying chemistry of thickening agents. Swapping standard wheat-derived or corn-based starches for arrowroot powder works well, though arrowroot loses its viscosity if subjected to prolonged, aggressive boiling. For those avoiding dairy, substituting the one percent milk and mozzarella with full-fat canned coconut milk and a melting vegan cheese alternative maintains the necessary fat-to-protein ratio required for proper emulsion stability. Whisking the chosen starch into cold liquid before adding it to the warm shallots prevents stubborn lumps from forming, ensuring a smooth texture throughout the baking dish.
- If the sauce appears too thin after adding the milk mixture, increase the heat slightly and whisk vigorously for an additional sixty seconds to encourage further starch expansion.
- Drain the sautéed spinach thoroughly in a colander before combining it with the sauce to prevent excess cellular water from diluting the dairy emulsion.
- Cover the baking dish loosely with foil during the first fifteen minutes of the twenty-five minute baking time if the mozzarella begins to brown too quickly.
