Best Spiced Matzo Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipes

CHICKEN MATZO BALL STEW

Steps:

• Start the stew: Set a large (5-quart) heavy pot over medium-high heat, add the oil and then the onion, celery and turnip, and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cover with 5 cups of water, or enough to almost cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a simmer, and simmer for about 30 minutes, skimming any scum that rises. Cool, cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours, but ideally overnight. Scrape off and reserve 2 tablespoons chicken fat from the surface of the soup for the matzo ball mix. Freeze any remaining fat for another use. (You can substitute 2 tablespoons vegetable oil if you prefer.)
• Meanwhile, make the matzo ball mix (at least 3 hours before serving): Stir together the eggs, schmaltz or oil, stock, matzo meal, nutmeg, ginger and parsley in a large bowl until well mixed. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours, or overnight.
• About 45 minutes before serving, finish the stew: Using your hands, break the chicken pieces into large-bite chunks, removing skin and bones as you go. Put the chicken back into the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and add the carrots and peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Add heavy spoonfuls of the matzo ball mix to the top of the soup. (You should have about 18 balls.) Cover and simmer until the matzo balls are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve topped with fresh dill or parsley.

SPICY STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Put the mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, chili pepper, lime juice and 1 cup of the spinach in a food processor. Process until is it almost a paste.
• Rinse and pat dry chicken breasts. Cut a pocket in each. Put one quarter of the paste in each breast. Hold closed with toothpicks, broken in half. If you are not cooking them immediately, place the stuffed chicken breasts in a container and store in the refrigerator.
• Place flour on a plate. Before flouring each chicken breast sprinkle a 1/4 of the chili powder and 1/4 of the lemon pepper on the top of the flour. Gently coat each side of the chicken breasts with the flour and spices.
• Heat 2 T of the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook chicken breasts at medium heat on the first side for about 8 minutes. Remove toothpicks before turning.
• Just before turning chicken, place 1 T each of olive oil, orange juice and lime juice in a pan. Add spinach and cook until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally.
• Also just before turning chicken, place the water and 2 t of olive oil in a small pot. Bring to a boil, add couscous and cover. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
• Cook chicken on the second side for 8 to 10 minutes.
• All three parts should be finished at about the same time. Place 1/4 of the spinach, 1/4 of the couscous, and 1 chicken breast on each plate and serve.

MATZO-STUFFED ROAST CHICKEN FOR PASSOVER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
• Remove the giblets from the chicken cavity. Warm 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the gizzard and heart and sear well on all sides. Add the liver and cook, turning as needed, for a few minutes longer. Transfer the giblets to a cutting board and chop finely.
• In a bowl, combine the matzo meal, 1/2 to 2/3 cup wine, the eggs, the walnuts, the currants, and the giblets. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, season with salt and pepper, and mix well
• Spoon the stuffing into the chicken cavity loosely and sew or skewer closed. Reserve any extra stuffing. Rub the chicken liberally with oil and the lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a rack in a roasting​ pan.
• Roast the chicken, basting occasionally with the remaining wine and with the pan drippings, until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced with a knife, about 1 1/2 hours. If you have stuffing that did not fit into the bird, put it in the roasting pan for the last 15 minutes of roasting, where it will cook and take on color.
• Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let rest for about 10 minutes. Scoop out the stuffing into a serving bowl and carve the chicken.

SPICED MATZO-STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
• Cook onion and bell pepper in 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes.
• While onion mixture cooks, rinse matzo farfel in a colander under warm running water until softened, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain, pressing gently to extract excess water.
• Remove onion mixture from heat and stir in farfel, pistachios, raisins, parsley, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Whisk together eggs and 3/4 cup broth, then stir into farfel mixture.
• Set aside 1 1/2 cups stuffing and transfer remainder to a generously oiled 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish.
• Bake stuffing in dish in lower third of oven until set and golden, about 30 minutes.
• While stuffing bakes, stir together spices with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.
• Insert a paring knife horizontally into middle of thicker end of each chicken breast half, stopping about 1 inch from opposite end, then open incision with your finger to create a 1-inch-wide pocket. Pack 3 tablespoons stuffing into each pocket. Pat chicken dry and add to spices, tossing to coat.
• Straddle a large flameproof roasting pan across 2 burners, then add remaining 3 tablespoons oil and heat over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sear chicken, skin side down, until skin is deep golden, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over, then roast in upper third of oven until just cooked through, 16 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a platter and straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add wine and deglaze by boiling, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Stir in 3/4 cup broth. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup broth and potato starch and whisk into sauce, then cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup. Let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and discard fat (or use a fat separator). Season sauce with salt.