Mozzarella-and-Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts for Two
By Ashley MoorePublished on June 26, 2018
Time
50 minutes
Yield
Serves 2
Ingredients
Before You Begin
If you wash your basil, make sure to dry it well before processing it. Some string cheese products are longer than 4 inches, so be sure to measure and cut accordingly to avoid a blowout. Reserve the chicken tenderloins for another use. You will need kitchen twine for this recipe.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Working with 1 breast at a time and starting at thick end of breast, cut 3½-inch-long horizontal pocket along side, stopping ½ inch from interior edge and 1 inch from tapered bottom. Wiggle tip of knife inside pocket to increase pocket's length to about 4 inches to accommodate cheese. Season breasts inside and out with salt and pepper.
- Process basil, Parmesan, 2 tablespoons oil, panko, garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Place 1 mozzarella stick in center of each breast. Pack 2 tablespoons pesto inside each breast, encasing mozzarella and leaving ¼-inch border along cut edge. Tie each breast with 3 evenly spaced pieces of kitchen twine to enclose filling.
- Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add breasts, smooth side down, and cook until well browned, about 3 minutes. Flip breasts, transfer skillet to oven, and bake until thickest part of filling registers 160 degrees, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer breasts to cutting board, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Remove twine, then slice chicken ½ inch thick. Serve.
Time
50 minutesYield
Serves 2Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Stuffed chicken breasts are often underwhelming for a number of reasons. The meat can be dry and bland, and the filling can lack pizzazz and can leak out when you try to cut into the chicken. To avoid these pitfalls, we used a paring knife to cut a sizable pocket in each chicken breast, into which we could place the filling. For the filling, we chose a basil pesto for its bright flavor and eye-catching color. To make the pesto, we simply processed basil, Parmesan, oil, panko bread crumbs, and garlic until they formed a paste. For extra oomph, we then added a mozzarella cheese stick to each pocket along with a couple of tablespoons of the flavorful filling before securing the filling in place with some kitchen twine. The results were juicy chicken, bright green pesto that tasted like sunshine, and oozy cheese that pulled and stretched in strings as if it were auditioning for a pizza commercial. Success.
Before You Begin
If you wash your basil, make sure to dry it well before processing it. Some string cheese products are longer than 4 inches, so be sure to measure and cut accordingly to avoid a blowout. Reserve the chicken tenderloins for another use. You will need kitchen twine for this recipe.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Working with 1 breast at a time and starting at thick end of breast, cut 3½-inch-long horizontal pocket along side, stopping ½ inch from interior edge and 1 inch from tapered bottom. Wiggle tip of knife inside pocket to increase pocket's length to about 4 inches to accommodate cheese. Season breasts inside and out with salt and pepper.
- Process basil, Parmesan, 2 tablespoons oil, panko, garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Place 1 mozzarella stick in center of each breast. Pack 2 tablespoons pesto inside each breast, encasing mozzarella and leaving ¼-inch border along cut edge. Tie each breast with 3 evenly spaced pieces of kitchen twine to enclose filling.
- Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add breasts, smooth side down, and cook until well browned, about 3 minutes. Flip breasts, transfer skillet to oven, and bake until thickest part of filling registers 160 degrees, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer breasts to cutting board, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Remove twine, then slice chicken ½ inch thick. Serve.
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