Baked Chicken Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Basil, and Goat Cheese

By lgove

Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated using fine grater
• 6 oz. goat cheese (log type, such as Chevre)
• 6 oz. purchased or homemade Sun-dried tomato pesto
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 F. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts. Put chicken breasts, one at a time, inside a heavy plastic plastic freezer bag and pound with meat mallet or other heavy object until 1/4 inch thick.

Put pesto, goat cheese, and chopped basil in food processor and buzz a few times until mixture is combined but not completely blended. Spread 1/6 of pesto/basil/goat cheese mixture on each chicken breast. Roll up chicken, starting with smallest end, tucking in loose pieces and securing with two toothpicks.

Put parmesan cheese in flat dish, and roll each rolled up chicken breast in the cheese, patting on so you get as much cheese sticking on as you can. (You could dip the chicken in beaten egg if you wanted to get more cheese to stick, but mine stuck on quite well without it.)

Spray glass casserole dish with nonstick spray and arrange chicken so pieces are not touching. Bake 350 F 40-50 minutes, or until chicken is slightly browned and firm, but not hard to the touch. I recommend you start checking it after 40 minutes, and remove from oven as soon as the chicken feels firm and is slightly browned. Serve hot.

Caution: I did notice that the cheese that fell off the chicken burned in the bottom of the pan before the chicken was done, so you might want to be aware of that and remove it if you see some cheese starting to burn.