Mushroom, Hazelnut Stuffed Chicken with Sage Pan Gravy

Hmmmphh, fall is still not in the air, down here (up here, for some of you) in South Carolina. High temperatures around 70ºF do not bring visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in our heads, that’s for sure. I suppose we’ll just have to pretend for now…

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3-4)
  • 8 oz assorted (or not assorted, it’s up to you) mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 c hazelnuts, roughly chopped
  • FOC (fat of choice)
  • S&P

For the Pan Gravy

  • 1/2 c chicken stock
  • 1/4 c dijon mustard
  • 2 T fresh sage, chopped

Method

Preheat your oven to 400ºF.

In a large saute pan, heat a few tablespoons of your F.O.C. and add the onions and garlic. When they’ve softened, add the mushrooms and let it go over medium heat until all the moisture the mushrooms released has been evaporated. This could take some time, so be patient. Add the hazelnuts. Place the stuffing in a bowl and set aside. Take the saute pan off the heat, because you’re going to need to rinse it off for the next step.

To stuff the chicken, use a paring knife to slit a hole in the thickest part of the chicken breast. Use your fingers  (of the knife) to make the hole bigger, being careful not to tear through the chicken at any point. Use a spoon to cram as much stuffing as you can possibly fit into the chicken hole. Use some butcher’s twine to truss (fancy word for “tie up”) the chicken like this…

It looks as though our chicken boob is being held captive, doesn’t it?

Clean out the pan you used to cook the stuffing and heat up a few more tablespoons of your F.O.C. Generously salt and pepper the outside of the chicken breasts. Over medium high heat, brown the chicken on each side and then slip them into the oven so the chicken can finish cooking. When an instant read thermometer reads around 165ºF,  remove the chicken from the oven. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

Once the chicken is out, remove it from the pan and let it rest. Add the ingredients for the pan gravy directly in the saute pan. Do not clean it out. Use a whisk to pick up any yummy chicken bits that are stuck to the pan. Keep the gravy over the heat just long enough to let it reduce a bit and thicken, don’t let it evaporate too much because that means less yummy pan gravy for you.

Once the chicken has had about 10 minutes to rest, remove the string, slice it up and top with the pan gravy.


Comments

19 responses to “Mushroom, Hazelnut Stuffed Chicken with Sage Pan Gravy”

  1. surprised nobody has commented on this one yet…if having to stuff the chicken is holding you up…don’t worry about it, just make the stuffing and then sautee the chicken by itself, slice and serve over the stuffing with the gravy. it will taste the same…this was one of our favorite meals lately…trust me, it’s good.

  2. Mike Strickland

    Wow… this turned out *REALLY* good. =D

    I’d say this is the tastiest meal I’ve made from health-bent yet. Stuffing the chicken was a monumental PITA, but worth it, in my opinion. This went really well with some Brussels sprouts drizzled with a little bit of the gravy. My FOC was rendered bacon fat.

  3. sweet…yeah it surprised us a little bit how much we liked it too. we felt like we had performed chicken alchemy…and turned it into something much more succulent. haha. thanks so much for the feedback, i was starting to think it was just us who liked this one.

  4. Pete VanderWeele

    This was awesome. Our family put this recipe in the box for future use. One idea I had was to double the stuffing and used it for my lunch with leftover turkey from thanksgiving.

    1. what a great idea. thanks pete…so glad ya’ll enjoyed it!

  5. Hey first off just wanted to say that i love the site you guys have put together. that said i was wondering what would be a good sub for the mushrooms in the recipe? i wanted to cook it for my girlfriend while she is in town but she hates mushrooms. Any suggestions? Thanks!!! 🙂

    1. thanks jimmy! i would think sweet potatoes, or any winter squash would work well (chopped very small), since they have similar textures to cooked mushrooms.

      marks daily apple actually posted a similar recipe on 11/13. he used mushrooms, but also cauliflower and celery…so that may work sans mushroom.
      http://www.marksdailyapple.com/breadless-cauliflower-and-mushroom-stuffing/

      let us know what you do and how it turns out.

  6. Thanks Megan! I should be making it this weekend. right now im leaning a little more towards a winter squash. i will let you know what i finally decide to do!

  7. Kelli Floyd

    Made this last night and it was awesome! I made sure to scrape up every little bit off of my plate. Loved it!

  8. Tracy Seiler

    Megan,
    This recipe is great. We made it tonight. Stuffing the chicken was a contact sport, but worth it. We had bought ready-made stuffed chicken breasts from local markets, and this was a huge step above.
    The real acid test, though, was: what would my German-born, very excellent cook of a husband think?
    He loved it, declared it a keeper, and told me to make more recipes from the site.
    🙂
    t

    1. contact sport!?! hahahaha….nice! thank you so much tracy!

  9. This was amazing!!!!! My picky husband loved it. Granted, I had to sub pecans for the hazelnuts since he is allergic but I’m looking forward to the hazelnuts when he is away. The gravy is amazing! I doubled to make sure I had plenty.

  10. […] 24, 2011 by The Foodee Mushroom, Hazelnut Stuffed Chicken with Sage Pan Gravy […]

  11. […] 11.05.24 Mushroom, Hazelnut Stuffed Chicken with Sage Pan Gravy […]

  12. Wow, this was fantastic! I have to confess that I didn’t have any chicken stock on hand when I was making it, so I deglazed with white wine, which imbibed even more savory goodness. This one is compeltely worth the effort, and defniitely dinner party worthy, which can be a challenge with Paleo. Thanks for another keeper!

    1. hahaha. glad it worked out for you molly!

  13. Hey guys,

    I just found your website (through Chris Kresser) and gosh, I’m so happy I did! This was my first recipe from your site but dang……it is AWESOME. Everything came out just perfectly and was well liked by me, my daughter and my French husband (super tough crowd).

    Many thanks! I’m looking forward to trying all your recipes!!

  14. I made this the other night, with a variation on the stuffing — added some carrot and parsnip to the ingredients listed, and it was great. And I didn’t actually stuff the chicken, just cooked the stuffing next to it. It all came out great, except for the gravy. I’m a fan of mustard, but I feel that mustard is just too strong a flavor and usurps the more delicate flavors of this dish. I think a simple sage butter sauce or some type of cream sauce would work better.

  15. Wow!!! I did the mix as a topping rather than a stuffing. Fabulous!!! Side of spinach was a great addition.

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