Sometimes I forget about frozen spinach. I always have frozen corn and frozen peas on hand, but frozen spinach falls off the radar from time to time. The good news is that then I get to rediscover it.
When I was a kid, my mom, my sister and I used to make tray after tray of spanakopita, the Greek spinach-and-feta-stuffed phyllo triangles. My sister and I loved it, the delicate, paper-thin dough, the compact packets, the brushing with melted butter. My mom would freeze them in small packages and then cook up these rich, crispy little pastries for hors d’oeuvres when we had company. To this day, she talks about how she got so much free phyllo-folding labor out of her children.
In later years, we would make tray after tray of them for an annual event I catered, and the muscle memory was definitely there.
Here, I took the basic filling we made for all of those spanakopita and used it to stuff chicken thighs. Stuffing a savory mixture under the skin of chicken pieces is a smart way to make them feel a little dressy, and layer more flavor on to your chicken dinner.
And while it takes a few extra minutes, this is nothing compared to folding dozens of phyllo packets.
SPINACH AND FETA STUFFED CHICKEN THIGHS
Servings: 4
Start to finish: 70 minutes
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed
Kosher or coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup crumbled feta
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Nutrition information per serving: 385 calories; 190 calories from fat; 21 g fat (8 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 206 mg cholesterol; 461 mg sodium; 6 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 42 g protein.
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