Crispy Chicken Breasts With Spinach-And-Green-Pumpkin-Seed Sauce

Preparation

1. Step 1

   To make the sauce: Bring a large kettle ⅔ full of lightly salted water to a boil and add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute. Immediately drain and plunge the spinach into a large bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, drain the spinach and squeeze it with your hands to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a blender and add the seeds, tarragon, parsley, garlic, zest and stock. Season with salt and pepper and process until very smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Set aside.

2. Step 2

   To make the chicken, halve each breast. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of each in 3 places and sprinkle each breast with a pinch of red-pepper flakes and salt and pepper.

3. Step 3

   Heat 2 large, heavy skillets, preferably cast iron, over high heat until very hot. Spray or brush skin side of each breast with olive oil and place skin-side down in one of the skillets. Spray the top of the breasts with oil and place the second skillet on top of the breasts, weighing it down with a foil-covered brick or a similar weight. Lower the heat to medium and cook until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes depending on thickness.

4. Step 4

   To serve, gently heat the sauce over low heat. Pour a pool of sauce on each of 4 dinner plates. Slice the chicken breasts on the bias and fan the slices over the sauce and serve immediately with mashed beans or mashed potatoes.