Gourmet’s Five Ingredients

I’ll betcha if told you these meals below were prepared using only 5 ingredients for each dish, just 5, you’d think I was lying.

Chicken Breasts with Spinach, Prosciutto and Mozzarella and
Tomato, Goat Cheese and Onion Tart

Sounds ambitious and time consuming…..but the secret is….Gourmet’s Five Ingredients ( published by Conde Nast Books and Random House) can take the credit for making me look good in the kitchen.



This book was published in 2002 but just made an appearance at my local library. A kind soul donated the book (I know because he, yes HE, wrote his name and address inside and was kind enough to list the recipes he tried, complete with accompanying stars for his prime picks.)

So…Five ingredients. Yes, that is all that is required to make each and every one of the dishes in this book. Five ingredients means less to purchase and cuts down on the active time spent preparing a meal. More time to do other things – whether it’s tossing a ball for your dog, playing a game with your child or perhaps having your kid help out with the meal prep. With so few ingredients to deal with it’s a snap to serve an aesthetically pleasing, flavorful and appetizing Gourmet meal.

Look – I did it! Recipes will follow. I’ve decided to show you the glorious end results instead of boring you with photo after photo of the prep involved.

Chicken Breasts with Spinach, Prosciutto and Mozzarella
Active time: 10 minutes Start to finish: 25 minutes

(Note: If you shave the cheese into thinner pieces, or shred it, the end result will be more aesthetically pleasing)



Ingredients.....

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 oz. fresh baby spinach or basil (1 cup)
4 thin slices prosciutto
4 thin slices fresh mozzarella (about a 1/3 pound)

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat butter in skillet but don’t let it get so hot it smokes, then add chicken and sauté until golden. That will be roughly 6 minutes per side, depending on your stove top temperature.

(Our stove is a POS glass top and doesn’t know the meaning of Low as a setting)

Divide spinach equally on top of chicken. Top spinach with a slice of prosciutto and then mozzarella.
Cook over low heat, covered, until cheese melts and chicken is cooked through – about 3 minutes.

"Have I mentioned I am a huge fan of chicken?! If I had the wishbone....I'd just ask for more of the same."



Tomato, Goat Cheese and Onion Tart

(Worst. Photo. Ever.)


Ingredients.....

1 9 inch pie dough
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, very thinly sliced
6 oz. goat cheese ( 1 1/3 cup)
1 pound plum tomatoes, thinly sliced crosswise

Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll out dough to an 11 inch round and fit into tart pan. Trim excess dough, press it into the sides. Line tart shell with foil and bake in middle of oven until pale golden in color, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 8 to 10 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Hang on to your foil – you’ll use it later!

While tart shell is baking, heat 2 TB oil and cook onion with salt and pepper. Let the onions get golden, about 10 minutes time here.

Spread onion over bottom of tart shell and top with 1 rounded cup of goat cheese. Arrange tomatoes, slightly overlapping, in concentric circles over cheese.. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and drizzle with remaining tablespoon of oil. Put foil back over crust edge to avoid overbrowning.

Put tart pan on baking sheet and broil 7 inches from heat until the cheese starts to brown, 3 – 4 minutes. Goes well with chicken!






I think I will send this to Cookbook Sundays!