Chicken Florentine

"Florentine" in culinary parlance means something prepared in the style of the Florence region of Italy, and the Internet takes a lot of liberty with what is generally considered a classic preparation that has two features: fresh spinach that has been sauteed in butter and Mornay Sauce. A Mornay Sauce is a Béchamel Sauce with melted cheese, generally Gruyère. A Béchamel Sauce is a Roux made into a sauce with milk.  So I, too, am taking some liberty by calling this recipe "Florentine," but somehow, it sounded better than the inspiration for this recipe, which was called "Cheesy Chicken Spinach Bake" from a website called Diethood.  I give credit for its discovery to my Number One Fan.

The original author called this dish a "one-pot low carb dinner..."  Well, it is low carb, however, the author clearly couldn't count.  I needed two cooking vessels; one in which to saute the spinach, and one in which to cook the chicken.  I didn't see any other way to do it.

I don't make a Mornay Sauce with this dish, but I did use plenty of cheese and as usual, I made some modification to the original recipe, which used Feta Cheese.  In case you didn't know, and clearly the author didn't either, Feta does not melt well.  I used Parmesan instead.

This dish works equally well with boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs.  I think we prefer thighs.

The one thing I'll give this recipe:  it's easy and delicious.

Ingredients
12 oz baby spinach
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 6 medium boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 oz whipped cream cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tbs Italian Seasonings (or equal parts dried oregano, basil, marjoram and thyme)
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs garlic powder
4 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
salt & pepper to taste

The Recipe
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Make sure your chicken breasts or thighs are dry.  Using half the olive oil, rub each side of the chicken breasts with the olive oil, then liberally apply the Italian Seasonings, onion powder and garlic powder on both sides of each breast.  Add some salt and pepper to your liking.

Place the breasts seam-side down or the rough side of the thighs down in a shallow baking dish dusted with non-stick cooking spray.  Cook the breasts for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, heat the remaining olive oil and the butter over medium heat, and saute the spinach, uncovered.  Allow it to wilt completely and any liquid to evaporate.

Add the cream cheese to the spinach, mix well and allow it to melt.

Remove the chicken from the oven, and turn them over.  The seam-side of the breasts or the rough side of the thighs should now be facing up, which makes a nice space for you to put equal amounts of the spinach and cream cheese mixture on top of each piece of chicken.

Add the Parmesan cheese and then the Mozzarella cheese on top of the spinach, and return breasts to the oven for 20-25 minutes; thighs for 30-35 minutes.  The cheese should be lightly browned and bubbly.