Chilli chicken and spinach gratin

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 6 people, you will need:

• 1 400 g chicken breast
• 2 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 2 tablespoons chilli spices
• 4 800 g fresh spinach
• 5 50 g butter
• 6 400 g Bechamel sauce
• 7 50 g grated cheese
• 8 salt
• 9 pepper
• Total weight: 1,775 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
45 min.	50 min.	1 hour 35 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Cut 400 g chicken breast into medium-sized chunks.
2	Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into a large frying pan on high heat. When good and hot, add the chicken, salt and pepper. Fry until lightly browned all over.
3	Turn off the heat, then add 2 tablespoons chilli spices and mix well to coat the chicken evenly with the spices.
4	Transfer to a plate and set aside.
5	Prepare 800 g fresh spinach, but leave raw.
6	Melt 50 g butter in a large frying pan on high heat. When good and hot add enough fresh spinach all at once to fill the pan. Be careful: the water left on the leaves will spit at first, so take care not to get scalded.
7	Stir with a spatula until the spinach has shrunk down. as shown in the photo. You have just "wilted" the spinach in butter – another cooking method. Wilt all the spinach like this in batches, transferring it to a plate when done.
8	Preheat the oven to 410°F (210°C). Butter a gratin dish and spread half the spinach in the bottom. Salt and pepper.
9	Add the chicken pieces.
10	Spread half the bechamel sauce on top.
11	Add the rest of the spinach; salt and pepper again.
12	Finish with the remaining sauce and scatter grated cheese over the top.
13	Bake for about 40 minutes until the top is nicely browned. Your gratin is ready.

Remarks

You can make the bechamel sauce richer by adding grated cheese (it then becomes a Mornay sauce).
If you are using cooked spinach, skip stages 5 to 7.

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