Cheesy Tomato, Spinach, and Grilled Chicken Bake
My new obsession is chopping up fresh spinach and adding it to tomato sauce. As a result spinach sneaks its way into lasagna’s and baked macaroni. This is a lighter alternative to Chicken Parmesan . The grilled chicken is smothered in tomato sauce with bits of prosciutto and then topped with a spinach, cheese, and Greek yogurt mixture. This easy to make chicken bake will become a new weeknight favorite!
Cheesy Tomato, Spinach, and Grilled Chicken Bake
This is almost a stripped down version of chicken parmesan. The grilled chicken is smothered with tomato sauce, greek yogurt, mozzarella cheese, and fresh spinach.
ingredients
tomato sauce
4 oz prosciutto (ask for it cut about 1/4 of an inch thick and chop it. or buy in small cubes; Citterio brand sells it)
1/4 c red onions, thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
chicken and greek yogurt mixture
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced (about 5-6 cutlets in a package usually)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp plain greek yogurt
1 1/2 c mozzarella cheese, grated
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
instructions
tomato sauce
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium sized saucepan or saute pan with high sides heat the tablespoon of olive oil. Add in your onions and cook them until soft about 4 minutes.
Next, add in your garlic cloves and let them start to brown. Once that happens add in your chopped prosciutto. Then let the cubes brown and start to get crispy. About 4-5 minutes.
Add the wine to the pan, scraping up any brown bits. Let the wine simmer for another 3 minutes, then add your tomatoes. Be mindful of possible splattering!
Season with salt, pepper, dried basil, and stir. Cover and let the sauce simmer on low.
chicken
Meanwhile heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a grill pan. Pat the chicken cutlets with a paper towel to get excess water off of them. Then season the cutlets with salt and pepper.
Place cutlets in batches on the grill pan. Grill for 3 minutes on each side or until you see grill marks. Set chicken aside.
spinach mixture
In a bowl add the chopped spinach, greek yogurt, mozzarella cheese and mix together with a rubber spatula.
assembly
Spread 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pyrex or ceramic baking dish. Place the pieces of grilled chicken on top of the sauce.
With the rubber spatula spoon out the spinach mixture over each piece of chicken. Use the spatula to spread out the mixture as evenly as possible over the chicken.
Top with another cup and half of tomato sauce. Then sprinkle some extra mozzarella cheese over the top if desired.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the top of the chicken becomes melted and bubbly.
