William Cowper wrote a poem titled “The Task” in 1785 that includes the idiom, “Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavour.” How that applies in cooking is obvious, and this recipe absolutely nails it.
This recipe takes a little more time and attention than I normally can commit on a weeknight, but spending one hour making restaurant-quality entrée on the weekend is not such a big deal.
To make the filling, brown the bacon until it can crumble. Remove the bacon, but reserve about 2 Tbsp of the fat. Gently mop up the extra grease from the pan with a paper towel, leaving any bacon bits.
Chop the dates and thyme, crumble the gorgonzola, and make bread crumbs. Mix them together with the crumbled bacon using your hands.
Slice the chicken breasts almost in half, so you can open them like a book. Divide the filling between the chicken breasts, pressing the filling firmly. If you wish, seal the chicken closed again with toothpicks.
Heat reserved bacon grease in a large pan over medium heat. Brown the chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side. Lower the temperature, cover the pan, and cook an additional 3 minutes per side.
Remove to a platter, cover, and keep warm.
Boil pasta in a separate pan, according to instructions on the box. I use a gluten free quinoa fusilli pasta because lots of sauce can hide in the twisty-ness. 🙂
Prepare the asparagas by snapping off the tough bottoms. Then cut into 1″ pieces. I keep the rubber band on the tops to keep them together, and separate from the stalk pieces. The tops cook in just a few moments, and no one likes over-cooked asparagas.
In the bacon-turned-chicken pan, sauté thinly sliced onion rings sprinkled with a little sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add thinly sliced garlic and sauté another minute.
Deglaze the pan with white wine, then add chicken broth. Once this comes to a boil, toss in the stem pieces of asparagas and diced tomato. Allow them to cook for 3 minutes.
Add the asparagas tips (remember to remove the rubber band — just in case you had any questions about that) 🙂 .
After 1 minute, add the cream. Allow that to heat for 2 minutes.
Add the gorgonzola and allow to melt.
Strain the pasta, reserving some of the starchy cooking water.
Toss the pasta with the sauce and veggies. If the sauce gets too tight, add a little of the pasta water.
Serve with the stuffed chicken breasts.
PrintGorgonzola & Date Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced almost in half – so they can open like a book
- 4 slices bacon, browned and crumbled
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/4 cup dates, chopped
- 1/4 cup gluten free bread crumbs (reserved heels, rolls, whatever leftovers you have, finely chopped or run thru the food processor for a couple seconds)
- 1 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled, and divided
- 1 onion thinly sliced into rings
- A pinch of sugar
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 plum tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 large bunch asparagus, cut into 1” pieces, tops reserved
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a large frying pan brown the bacon, remove and crumble, reserving 2 Tbsp bacon fat
- Gently mop up the excess grease from the pan with a paper towel, leaving any brown bits in the pan
- Chop dates, thyme, and bread to make crumbs
- Combine the bacon, thyme, dates, and 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese, mixing with your hands
- Slice each of the chicken breasts almost all the way thru, then stuff with the filling, pressing firmly
- Heat the reserved bacon grease over medium heat, and brown the chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side, then lower the heat, cover, and cook an additional 3 minutes each side
- Remove chicken to a deep platter, cover, and keep warm
- Begin boiling pasta according to package directions
- In the same large frying pan, sprinkle the onion rings with a pinch of sugar, and sauté for 3 minutes
- Add the thinly sliced garlic, and sauté another minute
- Deglaze the pan with white wine, then add chicken broth and bring to a boil
- Put in the asparagas stem pieces and diced tomatoes, cooking for 3 minutes
- Add the asparagus tops and cook another minute
- Add the heavy cream, and heat thru – about 2 minutes
- Add the remaining gorgonzola cheese, and allow to melt
- Drain the pasta, reserving some of the starchy cooking water
- Toss the pasta in with the sauce and vegetables, adding pasta water to desired consistency
- Serve the pasta with chicken breasts
