spinach and feta stuffed chicken

i decided to experiment last night...in this case, i stuffed some chicken breasts with spinach and feta cheese.  i've never actually cooked with feta cheese before, and now i'm wondering what took me so long.  and because i got distracted, i neglected to upload the description until today.  shameful, i know.

prep time was on the order of 15 minutes, and cooking time was about 25 minutes.  i would consider this to be a moderately fancy meal, and it takes less than an hour altogether...who'd've imagined?!  if you serve the chicken with rice and vegetables on the side, what i cooked amounts to about six servings.

ingredients:
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts (i used three, or a little less than two pounds)
- feta cheese (i happened to get some flavored with garlic and herbs; about 3-4 oz)
- fresh spinach (a handful or so)
- olive oil
- salt/pepper
- basil
- paprika
- ground hot pepper

preparation:
coarsely chop the spinach, add to a small bowl, and mix the feta cheese, a little basil, some cracked black pepper, and a little olive oil (just enough to coat the mixture).  the trick is judging how much spinach and feta will fit inside the chicken.

cut horizontal slits in the chicken breasts and stuff the spinach and cheese mixture inside.  basically, i made the chicken into a piece of pita bread and made a pocket...make a suitably large pocket because you want to fit all the spinach and cheese inside!  i ended up using toothpicks to hold the stuffing inside the chicken (two per chicken breast).  rub the chicken with some more olive oil, some paprika, salt and pepper, and a little ground hot pepper, and brown it in a pan over medium-high heat (about 3 minutes per side).  move to an oven-safe pan and bake uncovered at 375°F for 20 minutes.

verdict:
this is a splendid meal; not to sound immodeset, but i am particularly impressed with this experiment.  however, i will admit that it could be improved by wrapping the chicken in pancetta.  many of the recipes i saw online called for a pancetta or bacon wrapping, but i didn't bother this time.  maybe i will go for that in the future though...besides being bacon (and who doesn't like bacon?), it would have kept the spinach and feta properly on the inside of the chicken during the pan-sear.  live and learn, i suppose.