Who said eating healthy had to be boring? Chicken breast is one of the leanest and healthiest proteins available so why not stuff it with some mouth-watering Italian flavours to really ramp up your chicken dinner!! In my recipe we're going to stuff it with some beautiful sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper and oozy mozzarella cheese, what's not to love. Super simple to make but you'll feel like a pro when you dish them up for dinner.
This recipe requires toothpicks to seal the chicken breasts up so make sure you have some to hand.
Prep time 10mins
Cooking time 25mins
60g sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
70g jarred red peppers, roughly chopped
10g fresh basil, roughly chopped
1.5tbsp breadcrumbs, I use panko
Salt and pepper
4 chicken breasts
Mozzarella ball 125g, sliced
Olive oil
1tsp dried basil
Preheat your oven to 180°c fan, and pop a baking tray in to warm up.
Prepare your stuffing by adding the sun dried tomatoes, peppers, basil, breadcrumbs and about1/4tsp of salt and pepper in to a bowl and mixing well.
Cut pockets in to the fat end of your chicken breasts, try and make the pockets as deep as possible but be careful not to go through the other side of the chicken or your filling will leak out.
Divide your stuffing mixture into 4 and stuff each chicken breast, make sure you leave enough room for some mozzarella and so that you are still able to seal it together.
Now add some mozzarella to each chicken breast pocket and seal it up as best as you can using toothpicks.
Season the chicken breasts all over with salt and pepper. You should end up with something similar to the pic below.
Now in a large frying pan, add 2tbsp of olive oil and set to a medium-high heat.
Once the pan is hot add the chicken breasts and leave to cook on one side for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes turn the breasts over and cook on the other side for 5 minutes.
Gently try and seal the sides of the chicken breasts that haven't touched the pan and then place them on to the hot baking tray, sprinkle each breast with some of the dried basil and then in to the oven. Cook in the oven for 8 minutes.
ALWAYS check that the chicken is fully cooked before consumption, after 8 minutes they should be perfectly cooked and juicy but if not pop them back into the oven for a few more minutes, this will depend on how large your breasts are.
Remember to remove the tooth picks and serve with your favourite sides.
