Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I can't really tell you whether this experiment was a success or not.  But ... I vowed when we started this blog to share our successes AND failures so ... This is what happens when I experiment with new things when Brownie isn't home :-)  I will say this:  I'm not a fan of chicken breasts.  They're just too dry for me no matter how they're cooked.  I would have rather used thighs and made more of them to be truthful. Maybe I'll try that another time :-)

This recipe calls for marinara.  We had some San Marzanos ripe in the garden, a Green Zebra and a Pineapple heirloom so ... I made a quick marinara myself.  I didn't need much for this recipe anyway, so I kept it small.

I chopped the tomatoes we had, added some onion, fresh minced garlic and some chopped fresh basil with about 1 teaspoon of salt and put it all in a saucepan with a little olive oil over medium heat to cook down until the tomatoes start to looked 'cooked'.  No, I didn't remove the skins. When I make marinara to can, I remove the skins but for fresh ... I don't bother.

Once the tomatoes are cooked down, I put it all in the food processor and pulse it a few times (I like my marinara chunky). This is a good time to remove any large pieces of tomato skin that just don't look appetizing.  Once it's the consistency I want, it goes back into the pan to cook down more.  I turn the heat down to medium-low and just let it simmer while I cook and drink wine.  Stir it often!  By the time you need it, it will be done :-)

As for the chicken recipe ... here it is:

Ingredients:

• 4 Chicken Breasts
• 3/4 Cup grated fresh mozzarella
•  1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
• 20 pepperoni, chopped (I used large pepperoni and used 5 slices)
• 1/4 Cup Marinara
• Fresh Basil
• Romano Cheese
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Salt

Directions:

• Using a paring knife, cut along the thick side of the chicken breast, leaving 1/2" on each end and create a pocket inside the chicken. (Be careful, I cut a few too far and the meat got too thin, leaked my stuffing out ... less is more.)
• Combine mozzarella, pepperoni, oregano and marinara in a bowl and stir to mix
• Spoon mixture into the pockets in your chicken breasts, dividing as evenly as you can
• Rub chicken down with salt and pepper and garlic salt
• Heat some olive oil in a pan and and place chicken breasts in pan over medium heat until seared on one side
• Flip chicken breasts over, cover pan and cook for 6 minutes
• Remove lid, flip breasts again, cover and cook for another 6 minutes
• Remove breasts from pan, place on paper towels or on a rack to drain and rest (there will be juices from the cheese, marinara, pepperoni ....)
• Slice breasts and place on a plate, drizzle with more marinara and sprinkle with grated Romano Cheese and fresh chopped basil

After Brownie's critique - I didn't get a good enough sear on my chicken.  He's the meat guy, we should have made this together.  As you can see in the photo, my stuffing also started leaking out. Not sure this 'pocket' idea is the best for chicken.  I am now determined to master stuffing chicken breasts!  I'll be playing with this idea more in the future. BUT the chicken was good, the Italian taste was there and Brownie helped me plate it so it looked pretty :-)

Try this one out and let me know if you had more success and share your tips with me! :-)