Spinach Cream Sauce Ravioli with Baked Chicken and Mozzarella Balls

This is just a basic white cream sauce with spinach and Parmesan cheese added over fresh home made four cheese ravioli. This time we added a side of homemade mozzarella balls (half-ass mozzarella sticks?) and baked chicken!

Ingredients


For the sauce:

- 3 tsp Butter

- 3 tsp Flour

- 1 cup Milk

- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream

- 4.5 oz Spinach

- 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (approximately)

-Cheese Ravioli (any brand will do, but fresh ravioli is always better!)

-Skinless/Boneless chicken breasts (3 or more if you so choose)

For the Mozzarella Balls:
- fresh mozzarella cheese (the amount is up to you- depends on how many you want!)
- eggs (2-3)
- bread crumbs
- vegetable oil (1 - 2 cups for frying)
- Salt, pepper, oregano

Instructions for the SAUCE

1. Melt butter and slowly add flour over med-low heat.

2. Slowly mix in the milk. Once all milk is added, add Parmesan cheese slowly and continue to stir and heat for approximately 5 minutes.

3. Stir in heavy cream until well mixed.

4. Drain/dewater spinach and add to the cream sauce. Heat until sauce is warm and bubbly!

5. Prepare ravioli, add sauce and presto! We have delicious, cheesy goodness.

Instructions for the Chicken


There really is no one way to prepare the baked chicken. It's all about the spices you like but here is what we did...

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Put chicken breasts (3-4) in an oven safe pan

3. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, basil (fresh if you have it), oregano and some cayenne pepper for a little kick!

4. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through. To ensure the chicken is cooked properly, cut into the thickest part of the chicken breast and see if it's pink. A little pink is okay, if it looks rubbery at ALL, throw it back into the oven!

Instructions for Mozzarella Balls
This is where cooking gets messy, but in a totally fun way!
First- get out one bowl for the bread crumbs, another bowl for the eggs and a plate for resting the cheese balls on post-dredging and pre-cooking.


1. Using a knife to cut into chunks (or your fingers if you're feeling up to it), separate the fresh mozzarella into little balls of cheese- size is up to you. Mainly- not too big, not too small. 


2. Mix up the eggs in a small bowl, add a pinch of salt, pepper and oregano for some added flavor. Feel free to add more spices if desired- it certainly can't hurt. (i.e. cayenne pepper, garlic salt, etc.)


3. Roll the cheese balls into the egg getting it thoroughly covered, then roll in the bread crumbs, but on the plate and repeat. (I recommend performing this step twice to ensure a thick layer of breading so the mozzarella balls are less likely to come undone while being fried)


4. Preheat the oil in a small pot until it sizzles when you splash water into it. 


5. Slowly place about 6-8 cheese balls in at a time. Cook until golden brown. Have a plate ready with a few napkins on it to soak up the access oil. Doing this makes the breading more crispy.


6. After all the mozzarella balls are cooked and spent at least 5 minutes on a napkin- they are ready to be eaten!! Just pick your favorite dipping sauce and you're good to go!