Rolled chicken over spinich linguine with alfredo

Tonight I made a delicious little dish of chicken rolled around spinach and ricotta cheese served over spinach linguine with alfredo. The dish is pretty simple to make with an extraordinary return on the effort.

You will need:

Raw chicken breast tenders (3 per serving)

Ricotta cheese
Chopped spinach
Spinach linguine
Alfredo sauce
Butternut squash
EVOO
Butter pecan syrup
Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Butter

For starters, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the chicken, you will need a meat hammer. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over your workstation and situate your chicken breast tenders a few inches apart from each other. Cover with another layer of plastic wrap and gently hammer the meat flat, starting in the center and working your way around the edges.

Once your chicken is flattened into a thin layer, spread a spoonful of ricotta cheese over the top of each piece then top with chopped spinach. Pull the two short ends together, enclosing the cheese and spinach inside the chicken. Overlap the edges and stitch closed with a toothpick. Repeat for all pieces of chicken. Place the chicken rolls in a baking dish with a spot of EVOO and gently brush the tops with EVOO as well. Put in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the linguine according to box directions, boiling for approximately 7 minutes.

Next, wash your squash and slice into quarter inch rounds then halve. Cut out the center seeds and remove the skin from each half moon then dice. In a small skillet, saute squash in butter. Add in salt and pepper to taste. After the squash has softened, add a few drops of butter pecan syrup to the skillet, toss and continue cooking.

Tending to your chicken again, brush the tops of each chicken roll with the butter pecan syrup. This makes your chicken brown up nicely with a sweet, yet nutty flavor.

Once your pasta is done cooking, drain and return to its large skillet. Add in two tablespoons of alfredo sauce and toss, simmering over low heat. Add the butternut squash and continue to cook together.

Plate the pasta and top with chicken rolls. Enjoy!