John Torode’s cheese, spinach & mushroom stuffed chicken

QIt’s great to try new things and push yourself in the kitchen – but when you’re after a proper hit, you can’t beat a bit of nostalgic cooking like this.

Prep 15 mins

QCook 30 mins

40g dried porcini mushrooms

3 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

100g baby leaf spinach

150g ricotta

50g firm mozzarella, coarsely grated 20g parmesan, finely grated 4 skinless chicken breasts

4 slices prosciutto

1 Tip the mushrooms into a small bowl, cover with boiling water, then leave to soak for 15 mins. Drain and squeeze out any excess liquid (save and freeze the liquid to make a base for a gravy) and roughly chop. 2 Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the shallots and garlic for 3 mins. Turn up the heat, throw in the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes more. Add the spinach, turn the heat up to high and cook until the spinach is wilted and all the liquid has evaporated. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Beat in the cheeses and season with lots of pepper and a little salt. Set aside. 3 Remove the small fillet from the backs of the chicken breasts. Cut a slit into the side of each chicken breast, then stuff each one with a quarter of the spinach mixture, closing it with the cut-off fillet. Carefully wrap each stuffed chicken breast in a slice of prosciutto and chill until needed. Can be prepared up to a day ahead.

4 To cook, heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Arrange the chicken on a baking tray and roast for 20-25 mins until the prosciutto is crisp at the edges, the cheese is oozing out and the chicken is cooked through.

PER SERVING 397 kcals, fat 19g, saturates 7g,

carbs 7g, sugars 1g, fibre 1g, protein 48g, salt 1.0g