Chicken Parmesan Florentine

No Italian cook worthy of his sauce-stained apron should ever be satisfied without one or more good reliable
Parmesan dishes within his repertoire. In fact, it seems to be a shame to even use the word “Parmesan” without
preceding it with Chicken, Veal, Eggplant, or some kind of Seafood. I can't imagine spending any time in the Tuscan
region of Italy or a good Italian Restaurant without taking much more than a glance at a menu before asking for a one
of its Parmesan dishes.

My understanding is the culinary term “Florentine” means "with spinach". Common Florentine dishes include chicken,
veal, eggplant, shrimp, or fish. Typically, Florentine dishes usually include Spinach with Parmesan Cheese, topped
with baked Mozzarella Cheese. It is certainly possible to have a dish designated "Parmesan" that does not contain
spinach, but I don’t think it is possible to have a dish designated "Florentine" without spinach, Parmesan, and
Mozzarella. Sorry – that’s just me.   

Seriously though, Chicken Parmesan Florentine should have a portion of well seasoned chicken, marinara sauce
with lots of garlic, melted Parmesan and stringy hot Mozzarella Cheese, all resting on a bed of gently sautéed
spinach. How could it not be good?

I make Parmesan Florentine several different ways, from easy-easy dishes to versions with more than enough
complication for anyone. They are all good and welcome on our table. Here is an easy to prepare take on this classic
Italian dish. The intent with this version is to put excellent food on the plate with minimum effort.
You will note I used ground chicken instead of boneless, skinless, pounded flat chicken breast for this dish. I chose
ground chicken in order to be able to (more simply) incorporate additional flavor into the meat portions. This also
helps to yield a moist, tender meat portion.

Chicken Parmesan Florentine (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 pound ground Chicken

2 teaspoons Garlic, minced
1 large Egg
1/2 cup Marinara Sauce, from a jar or made from scratch
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded
5 ounces fresh baby Spinach
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
Black Pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon Italian Herb Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper
Directions:

Prepare the ground chicken by adding 2 teaspoons minced garlic, salt and black pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon Italian
herb seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, then add the egg.

and 1/3 cup parmesan cheese. Gently mix the ingredients until evenly distributed. Over mixing will result in a tough
chicken patty.
Preheat a sauté pan to medium heat and add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Using a suitably sized scoop or spoon,
portion the seasoned chicken mixture into 2 inch balls in the preheated sauté pan. This recipe yielded more chicken
portions than the pan would hold so I cooked the chicken in two batches.

As the chicken begins to cook, lightly press the meat down to form a 3 inch patty. This is easy to do if you use a stiff
metal spatula that has been coated with olive oil. The olive oil prevents the chicken mixture from sticking to the
spatula. Cook the chicken patties for approximately 3 minutes per side.

The intent is to see noticeable caramelization on the surface of the portion before turning it.
When the patties are fully cooked, remove them and set aside until needed. Do not remove the drippings or fond
from the pan. Since they are full of flavor, it would be a waste to lose them. Add the fresh spinach to the hot pan
along with 2 teaspoons of minced garlic. 

The spinach will deglaze the pan as it cooks. The spinach will take only a few minutes to cook and will quickly reduce
in volume. As you can see, the spinach will darken as it cooks. As soon as it is fully wilted, it is finished.
Portion the spinach into two oven proof dishes and place a couple of your chicken portions over the spinach. You will
notice I only used 4 of the 9 chicken portions I cooked. More on that later.

Preheat the marinara sauce before ladling over the chicken. For quick preparation, your brand of jarred sauce works
fine. This one used marinara I made from scratch. We usually cook for only two people at our house and hardly ever
need a full recipe of marinara. To prevent waste, I make large batches of marinara sauce, portion it into zip lock bags
and store it in the freezer until needed. If we are cooking for more people we simply take out the number of bags
required for the recipe. There are many decent jarred sauces at your grocery store. If you want to make you own
marinara, I will publish our good recipe for this classic tomato sauce in a future post.

A suitable amount of sauce is ladled over each pair of cooked chicken portions.
Lastly, the mozzarella cheese and the remainder of the parmesan are sprinkled over the sauce. Some people like
lots of cheese on their Florentine Chicken Parmesan and if you belong to that group, add as much cheese as you
like.

The set ups go into a preheated oven, about 4-6 inches under the broiler for as long as it takes to melt the cheese
and brown it a little. Be certain to watch the dish carefully during this step since no one likes charred cheese.
Time to enjoy this comforting chicken dish.
What good is a photo recipe posting without a couple of money shots?

You will notice I only used 4 of the 9 chicken portions I cooked. The remaining 5 portions were frozen in a zip lock
bag and will be used for an easy fast repeat of this dish.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my recipe post.

God Bless You!

*************************************

Chicken Parmesan Florentine (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 pound ground Chicken

2 teaspoons Garlic, minced
1 large Egg
1/2 cup Marinara Sauce, from the jar or stove or freezer (more on this below)
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded
5 ounces fresh baby Spinach
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
Black Pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon Italian Herb Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper
Directions:

Prepare the ground chicken by adding 2 teaspoons minced garlic, salt and black pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon Italian
herb seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, then add the egg and 1/3 cup parmesan cheese. Gently mix
the ingredients until evenly distributed. Over mixing will result in a tough chicken patty.

Preheat a sauté pan to medium heat and add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Using a suitably sized scoop or spoon,
portion the seasoned chicken mixture into 2 inch balls in the preheated sauté pan.

As the chicken begins to cook, lightly press the meat down to form a 3 inch patty. This is easy to do if you use a stiff
metal spatula that has been coated with olive oil. The olive oil helps to prevent the chicken mixture from sticking to
the spatula. Cook the chicken patties for approximately 3 minutes per side. The intent is to see noticeable
caramelization on the surface of the portion before turning it.

When the patties are fully cooked, remove them and set aside until needed. Do not remove the drippings or fond
from the pan. Since they are full of flavor, it would be a waste to lose them. Add the fresh spinach to the hot pan
along with 2 teaspoons of minced garlic. The spinach will deglaze the pan as it cooks. The spinach will take only a
few minutes to cook and will quickly reduce in volume. It will darken as it cooks. As soon as it is fully wilted, it is
finished.

Portion the spinach into two oven proof dishes and place a couple of the cooked chicken portions over the spinach.

Preheat the marinara sauce before ladling over the chicken. There are many decent jarred sauces at your grocery
store, if you don’t want to make you own marinara. A suitable amount of sauce is ladled over each pair of cooked
chicken portions.

Lastly, the mozzarella cheese and the remainder of the parmesan are sprinkled over the sauce. Some people like
lots of cheese on their Florentine Chicken Parmesan and if you belong to that group, add as much cheese as you
like.

The set ups go into a preheated oven, about 4-6 inches under the broiler for as long as it takes to melt the cheese
and brown it a little. Be certain to watch the dish carefully during this step since no one likes charred cheese.

Enjoy!