Easy chicken puff pastry pockets with spinach & feta

It has been such a busy couple of months that I completely forgot to share a fun recipe that I'd made for Super Bowl Sunday...and I only realized it when I read about National Spinach Day coming up on March 26th! To be honest, though, just about every day is Spinach Day in Greece - you find this super veggie everywhere, which is why we have so many spinach recipes on our blog!

But back in January, as our beloved Cincinnati Bengals were getting ready to battle it out against the LA Rams, I was looking for a quick & easy dish to make for our Super Bowl party. Now you know I love a good kitchen hack and am always on the look out for time-saving tips & tricks, even though I'm definitely careful of the ingredients I use. I had an extra challenge with this bunch of friends in that I'd already exhausted most of my Greek recipes with them. But as often happens, Elli & Manos came to the rescue!

I can't say it often enough (although loyal blog readers might disagree!), these Greek Flavor Bursts are just amazing. Both the tomato-based and veggie spreads are bursting with concentrated flavor that you can use as a spread, dip or sauce but, more importantly, they're incredible flavor enhancers in any dish. The tomato sauces are great on all my veggie dishes, including green beans, okra, steamed zucchini, and of course on pasta, but also on sautéed shrimp and stir-frys. I usually use the veggie spreads straight, as they're tasty, all-natural dips (so much healthier than the traditional ranch or sour cream dip!) - perfect for carrot sticks & pita chips. 

But back to Super Bowl Sunday! I remembered a recipe I often made for our friends that involves pork tenderloin, fresh herbs and puff pastry. Now I had the puff pastry, I had some chicken tenders, and I had a jar of Elli & Manos' Spinach & Feta Greek Flavor Burst, which I love because I can get that spinach and feta flavor without having to deal with washing all the spinach! Anyway, I got creative and decided to put it all together and the result did not disappoint! These easy chicken pockets made the party a big hit (even though the Bengals lost, but let's not go there...). One friend said they had "the perfect balance of flavor and acidity", which isn't surprising, since Elli adds a good dose of lemon to her spread and uses real feta cheese. Juicy, flavorful, rich in texture, these chicken & spinach pockets are my new go-to recipe for a quick & easy dinner! I hope you'll give them a try, and maybe get creative yourselves...if you do, send me your pictures or tag us on Instagram with #zelosgreekartisan!

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry

4-6 chicken tenders or a chicken breast

1 jar Elli & Manos Spinach & Feta spread

1 egg

salt and pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

Salt & pepper the chicken tenders according to taste. If you are using a chicken breast slice thinly about 1/2 an inch. Set aside.

Open the puff pastry sheet and cut it into 4 squares. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to make it bigger in order to easily fold your chicken in it.

Brush a tablespoon of the spinach & feta spread on each square. Then place your chicken tender or piece of chicken breast in the middle. Holding the ends, fold over the square to cover the chicken and crimp the dough with your fingers or a fork. 

Mix the egg with a bit of water and brush the pockets to give them a nice golden color when they bake.

Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm as a hot snack or appetizer; add a salad for a delicious light lunch or dinner main dish.

Enjoy!

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