Ingredients:
• 4 small chicken breasts/1 boneless turkey breast
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal®)
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil or any good high-heat cooking oil
• 1 small (1/3 cup) white onion, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups diced butternut squash, 1/2-inch dice
• 5 black mission figs, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 3 sage leaves, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper
• Cooking twine, 6 to 8 pieces
Method:
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Add onions and sauté for two minutes, or until golden. Add butternut squash and 2 tablespoons water and cover. Cook on low for 10 minutes. Remove lid and add figs, garlic, spinach, salt, sage and pepper and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Set aside to cool. Cut a pocket into the sides of the tenderloins, careful not to cut all the way through at the ends. Season the inside and outside of the chicken/turkey with salt. Stuff each chicken/turkey breast with about 3/4 cup of squash mixture. Cut cooking twine long enough to tie each breast with 3 to 4 pieces of twine. Cut off extra twine. Preheat oven to 375°F. In skillet over medium-high heat, lightly spray with cooking spray. Carefully sear each chicken/turkey breast on each side – 3 sides. Don’t sear on stuff end. If your skillet is oven-proof, cover with foil and place in the center of the oven. If not, then transfer to baking dish and cover with foil. Place directly into oven and cook for 30-35 minutes. Allow to sit 5 minutes before cutting off twine and slicing each chicken/turkey breast into 4 slices.
Yield: 4 servings
Photo: Stef Schwalb
Chef Shoshana Quint Bio
Shoshana Quint is a chef, teacher, and mother of four living on New York City’s Upper West Side. She graduated from Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School, the precursor to the Institute of Culinary Education, then trained and worked closely under the mentorship of celebrity-chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Shoshana worked as a line cook for three years, first at Jean-Georges’s JoJo Restaurant, then at his Mercer Kitchen in Soho. Later she served as his chef de cuisine at Lipstick Café. Next, Shoshana headed overseas to build a catering company and cooking school in the heart of Amsterdam. After two years in the Netherlands, she moved back to her native Montreal to establish her own catering business and cooking classes. In 2003, Shoshana moved with her husband to New York City. She currently caters small dinner parties and has been conducting private cooking classes in her home since 2010. Albariño is Shoshana’s go-to white wine for all seasons because its versatility pairs to perfection with a variety of dishes and flavors from around the globe.
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