Thursday, February 15, 2007

Mozzarella & Basil Stuffed Chicken


I got a few requests for the recipe for the meal I fixed for Katie for our early Valentine's. It was easy to make and quite tasty. Katie and I both highly recommend it. Thanks to the good folks at America's Test Kitchen, here's the recipe:

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil [I just used dried basil]
2 T. heavy cream [I substituted milk]
1 T. lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 T. Mayonaise
1 cup fresh bread crumbs [I choped up a couple pieces of bread in the food processor, but you could just buy the bread crumbs]
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine cheese, 2 T. of basil, cream, lemon juice, 2 tsp. garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste [adding the cream or milk to the store-bought mozzarella is supposed to bring out more of an authentic, dairy-like flavor in the cheese].
2. Cut pocket in [in the thickest part of the ] chicken breasts [because there's no marinade, the chicken gets a lot of the flavor from this stuffing, so make sure the pocket you cut goes deep into the chicken breast], stuff with cheese mixture, and seal [with toothpicks]. Transfer stuffed breasts to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and spread tops evenly with mayonnaise [the mayonnaise is just there to make the bread crumbs stick, so you don't need much].
3. Combine bread crumbs, remaining garlic, remaining 2 T. of basil, and 1 T of oil [I used a little more oil]. Sprinkle crumb mixture over chicken, pressing lightly to adhere.
4. Toss tomatoes with remaining tablespoon oil [I used more oil here, too. I think if it were summer and the tomatoes were a little more juicy, you wouldn't need as much oil because you would have more tomato juice], 1/2 tsp. salt, and pepper to taste. Arrange in baking dish around chicken. Bake until crumbs are golden brown and thickest part of chicken registered 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 25 minutes [I only had two really thick chicken breasts, so I cooked the chicken for a little longer; I covered the chicken with tin foil for the first 10-15 minutes, so I wouldn't burn the bread crumbs and the tomatoes, then I took the tin foil off and baked the chicken for another 25 minutes]. Serve.

3 comments:

whitney said...

Thanks, I'm excited to try it.

Anonymous said...

Allison, I command you to take down this down and bake it for me.

Anonymous said...

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