Chicken Florentine - Boneless chicken breasts are browned then served atop a bed of rice and spinach, all topped with a flavorful white wine, shallot, cream sauce.

PS: Some new photos were added to this post on 9/14/16.

I'm sure you've heard of the dish Chicken Florentine, right? I had heard of it but I hadn't actually ever cooked it before. I knew the basic idea of it but when I started searching on the web for some inspiration, I was surprised to see that most people are making this into a casserole style dish these days. If not a casserole, the other camp is to make the chicken into rolls, stuffing it with the spinach mixture.

I didn't want to do either of those things. I wanted a dish that looked beautiful but I certainly didn't want the hassle of pounding down chicken, stuffing it and rolling it up. I was tired. I had gotten up early and I was on my feet most of the day. We spent the day taking a college tour with our oldest kid. By the way, college! Seriously, last week I was at a preschool screening with our youngest and this weekend we are at college with our oldest. How extreme is that? I'm getting off topic. Anyway, so you see why I didn't want to fuss too much with dinner?

I've decided that this is going to be the "go to" dish when I need something to look all pretty and difficult and like I put such an effort into preparing it. So make this for your family or friends and they will feel special because you took the time to prepare such a lavish meal. Just forget to tell them that it's easy. It will be our secret.

I'm usually all about fresh spinach but to save a little time and aggravation, I used the frozen stuff. For some reason, in my freezer, I found a package of creamed spinach (I have no idea when or why I bought this). It worked perfectly. You can use plain old frozen chopped spinach if you want, but the flavor of the creamed goes well with the flow of the dish.

I'm huge on garlic but if you don't love a ton of garlic, just knock back the amount of garlic a little bit. I think a "normal" person would do fine with just 2 cloves.

Don't forget, when you're ready to serve this, cut your chicken on the bias, it looks so pretty when you do that. Such a simple thing but it goes a long way in the visual department. After all, we eat with our eyes first, right? Something like that.

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Chicken Florentine

Christine

5 from 2 votes

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Ingredients

9 oz package frozen spinach
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 T olive oil
2 T butter divided
2 large shallots thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves minced (only use 2 if you don't like a heavy garlic flavor)
1 C dry white wine
1 C heavy cream
2 T freshly chopped parsley
2 C white rice prepared

Instructions

Prepare spinach according to package. Set aside.
Season chicken with salt and pepper.
Add oil and butter to a large, non stick, skillet over medium - high heat. When pan is hot and butter is melted, place chicken in the pan. Cook until chicken is browned well (about 5 minutes), flip over and brown other side as well. Remove chicken from pan and set aside on a plate.
Return skillet to heat and add butter and shallots. Cook shallots until about 2 minutes, stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in wine to deglaze the pan, stirring well to release any flavors stuck to the bottom of the pan. Allow wine to reduce by about half (about 3-5 min)and then stir in the cream. Bring just to a boil and then place chicken back into the pan. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked through. Stir in parsley and remove from heat.

To serve : Place cooked rice on platter, top with spinach. Slice each piece of chicken on the bias (at an angle) and place atop the spinach. Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle additional parsley over the top if desired.

Notes

Recipe was inspired by these recipes: http://www.cookease.com/chickenflorentine.html
&
http://chicken.betterrecipes.com/chicken-florentine.html

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Chicken Florentine

Printable Recipe Card

Chicken Florentine

Ingredients

Instructions

To serve : Place cooked rice on platter, top with spinach. Slice each piece of chicken on the bias (at an angle) and place atop the spinach. Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle additional parsley over the top if desired.

Notes

More All Recipes

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Printable Recipe Card

Chicken Florentine

Ingredients

Instructions

To serve : Place cooked rice on platter, top with spinach. Slice each piece of chicken on the bias (at an angle) and place atop the spinach. Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle additional parsley over the top if desired.

Notes

More All Recipes

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