Italian Stuffed Chicken

my first CSA pick-up was this week and i could not have been more excited! my mom and i are sharing a half share but since she is out of town this week so i get the food to myself. i am also thinking maybe we might want to upgrade to a full share. i think we will be going through a half share to quickly.

anyway, our farm is one straw farm. if you are interested, find a csa near you here.

the way one straw farm does it is pretty cool. you just bring your reusable bag, give them your name and you can choose any 4 items (for a half share) or 8 items (for a whole share) you want. they had some many items that looked good this week but the strawberries were too good to pass up! since the season is so short, i picked up 2 pints of strawberries,

a bunch of shallots,

and some wonderful looking spinach.

i also picked up 4 locally made buttermilk wheat rolls from another stand (i wish i remembered the name).

tonight i decided to use some of the spinach in some italian stuffed chicken. it's super easy and customizable to whatever you have on hand. you could use any kind of cheese, baby spinach, arugula, prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.

just pound some chicken breast out so its fairly thin, sprinkle with salt and pepper,

layer some spinach leaves,

then some shredded cheese.

layer a little bit of marinara sauce on a pan,

then just roll the chicken up

secure it with toothpicks,

and top with a little more marinara sauce.

i also steamed some artichokes and made a little parmesan lemon butter for dipping.

the meal was perfection!

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Italian Stuffed Chicken
(serves 2)

2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
4 large spinach leaves
1/4 cup shredded cheese (i used an italian mix of parmesan, mozzerella, and provolone)
1 cup marinara sauce (look for some without added sugar)

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

sprinkle thinly pounded chicken breasts with a little salt and pepper. layer 2 large spinach leaves on each chicken breast. sprinkle 1/8 cup of shredded cheese on top of each spinach layer, then roll up chicken tightly and secure with 3-4 tooth picks.

spoon 1/2 cup of marinara into foil lined pan and place rolled up chicken on top of the sauce. sprinkle both chicken rolls with a little salt and pepper and top with remaining 1/2 cup of marinara sauce. bake for 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked all the way through. remove from oven and be sure to remove all toothpicks from chicken rolls before serving.

Vegetable Farro Risotto

i have been wanting to make farro risotto ever since i had it at even tide in arlington, va with E, M, and R. M and i both ordered the local spring vegetable farrotto and loved it. (very clever right? farro + risotto = farrotto)

i have been searching wegmans for farro ever since. they do not carry it to my knowledge but i did find it at whole foods and finally got to conduct my farro risotto experiment.

according to wikipedia, farro is a food product consisting of the grains of certain wheat species in whole form. apparently, "there is much confusion or disagreement about what exactly farro is. some claim it is emmer, others, spelt, and still others think it is its own species. farro is an italian term and there are three species of hulled wheat grown in italy and eaten as farro: einkorn, emmer, and spelt. regional differences in what is locally grown and eaten as farro, as well as similarities between the three grains may explain the confusion."

so there you have it. it looks very similar to another of my favorite grains - wheatberries. after a little research, i decided to cook the farro risotto just as i would cook the arborio rice. E's mom came over and i found some good looking sea scallops at whole foods and decided to sear them and serve them on top of the farro. i also added baby bella mushrooms, zucchini, and peas to the risotto.

while i stirred and stirred the farro risotto, we munched on some raw vegetables and onion dip and sipped lillet.

it was the first time i had the french aperitif and i was expecting it to be much sweeter. i was pleasantly surprised at the flavor and M and i both enjoyed sipping lillet before dinner.

the farro risotto turned out really well and the scallops complemented it perfectly. the farro didn't get the creamy, starchy consistency that arborio rice gets but i added a little milk at the end with the parmesan and it gave the farro the little extra creaminess it needed. while there is really no substitute for creamy, cheesy risotto in my book, this is a wonderful healthier version to try. i will be making this again for sure.

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Vegetable Farro Risotto
(serves 4 main dishes or 6-8 side dishes)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil, divided
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 medium zucchini, chopped
3 shallots or 1 small onion, minced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup farro
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup fresh (or frozen) garden peas
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup grated parmesan, plus more for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

heat chicken broth in medium pot over medium heat. when it begins to boil, reduce heat to low to keep warm.

meanwhile, heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. add mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. add chopped zucchini and a little salt and pepper. saute until tender, 4-5 minutes. remove vegetable from pan and set aside.

add remaining 2 tbs olive oil to pot and add shallots and garlic. saute until just tender being careful garlic doesn't burn. add farro and stir well to coat each grain with olive oil. cook for 1 minute. add wine and stirring constantly, let wine reduce. add warm chicken broth one ladle at a time and stir farro until almost all chicken stock is absorbed before adding another ladle. continue for approximately 20 minutes or until farro is al dente.

add vegetables back in as well as peas. stir well to combine. add milk and parmesan and stir for 1 minute. remove from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste* and serve immediately. top with additional grated parmesan if desired.

* note: i only added pepper at this stage because chicken stock and parmesan added plenty of salt on their own.

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i topped the farro risotto with scallops that had been seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides and seared in just a little bit of olive oil for approximately 2 minutes per side until just cooked through. it was a wonderful spring/summer dinner for company.

a special thank you to E for diligently stirring the farro towards the end while i seared the scallops and to M for being a wonderful "cook's companion". she was so good to keep me company the entire time i stirred, stirred, and stirred some more.

Vanilla Maple Almond Butter

i finally made almond butter! and not just any almond butter but vanilla maple almond butter. it took more time than i thought in the food processor but the result was well worth it. it turned out so creamy and flavorful. i could taste the vanilla, the maple syrup, and the cinnamon that i added. i couldn't stop eating it!

i will warn you that this does take some time. i really thought i had done something wrong because i have been processing them for over 10 minutes and it didn't seem to be changing into almond butter. but, have faith! it finally started to look a little creamy around 20 minutes. a couple more minutes and it was prefect! so use patience and stop and scrape the bowl a lot. my food processor was warm to the tough by the time i was finished.

1

1st scrape down (after 2 minutes)

 2nd scrape down (after about 5 minutes)

10th or 11th scrape down after about 20 minutes

probably 25th scrape down after about 25 minutes  

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Vanilla Maple Almond Butter

1 cup raw almonds
3 tbs pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbs light colored oil (i used grapeseed)

preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

spread almonds onto parchment lined baking sheet. spoon 2 tbs maple syrup over almonds and stir well to coat. make sure nuts are spread out and bake for 15 minutes, stirring and turning every 5 minutes.

remove almonds from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. add almonds, remaining maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla to food processor. process for about 2-3 minutes, stop and scrape food processor. continue this process 2x more then add the oil in a slow stream while the processor is running.

continue the 2-3 minute process and scrape down until the almonds start to become creamy. this will take anywhere from 15-25 minutes. store in an airtight container and enjoy!