Cheese and Basil Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Roasted Tomatoes and Potatoes - September 28, 2011

After several weeks of travel (mostly for business but also for pleasure... more on that in another post), it was so nice to be home and back in the kitchen. I far prefer to eat my own cooking than anything in most restaurants and after some disappointing meals that featured tomatoes and another that tried to pass off some al dente fingerling potatoes as "roasted," I was craving something that utilized those ingredients positively. We also had an abundance of basil growing on the patio and some certified corn-free mozzarella in the refrigerator, so this dish seemed perfect.

Not sure exactly where I got the original idea for this simplified technique for stuffed chicken. Basically I take two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut a small slit in the thick part, then use my fingers to enlarge it to carefully make a pocket for the stuffing, which was in this case was a mixture of shredded mozzarella, garlic, and chopped basil. Then I stitch them closed with a wooden skewer, plop the breasts in a baking dish, and brush them with a bit of mayonaise and press on the crumb topping (made from fresh white bread, basil, garlic, and a bit of olive oil in the food processor).

To add a tomato flavor, I took about half a pint of cherry tomatoes and cut them in half, tossed them with olive oil and salt and scattered them around the breasts. The whole thing goes in the oven at 375 for about 30 minutes.

Since I always like to make the oven multi-task, I also threw in some red potatoes to roast in another dish.