Stuffed Chicken Legs & Zucchini

By Sharon T

Stuffed Chicken Legs and Zucchini is a low-carb, high flavor dish that the whole family will love. Try adding different vegetables or whatever you think would work well in this recipe to give it your own flair. This dish can be made fancier by wrapping a raw piece of bacon or prosciutto around each chicken leg or zucchini before baking. Serve this dish with heart-healthy quinoa!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 medium-sized baby zucchini
• 3 tablespoons basil
• 3/4 cup prosciutto or bacon, diced
• 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes
• 6 chicken drumsticks
• chicken broth to taste
• flour to thicken sauce

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 80mins
Adapted from yahoo.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Fry prosciutto or bacon in a pan until crisped for stuffing.

Dice tomatoes. Coarsely chop basil leaves and prosciutto or bacon. In a small bowl, mix parmesan cheese with tomatoes, basil, and prosciutto or bacon.

Carefully loosen skin on each chicken leg by pushing fingers between skin and meat. Spread 1/6 of the tomato mixture over the meat under the skin on each chicken leg; tuck skin under the leg to hold mixture securely in place. The juice from the tomatoes can be poured into the pan to add flavor to the pan drippings.

Arrange chicken legs, skin-side up, in 1 layer in a 13x9-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle chicken with 1 teaspoon lemon pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes, brushing chicken occasionally with pan drippings.

Cut zucchini into large chunks; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange zucchini around chicken legs in the baking dish and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes longer or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife and zucchini is tender-crisp.

To serve, thicken the drippings with 1/2 a tablespoon of flour or more if needed and heat over medium-low heat stirring continuously to prevent lumps until the mixture has thickened, if you need more drippings just add some chicken broth, thicken and pour over chicken legs. Garnish with basil sprigs.