Foodie Fridays: Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts Caprese

If you only plan to try one new recipe this year, please make it this one!  I found the original recipe for Cheesy Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken on the Half Baked Harvest website (always a good source for easy and delicious recipes!).  I made a few minor changes to the ingredients as well as the technique, but the essentials are still the same, and the end result is one of the best chicken dishes I have ever made.  Normally I avoid any recipe that calls for slicing chicken breasts horizontally, as I loathe handling raw chicken, but after tasting this amazing chicken I may end up using this method every time I make chicken (I am already planning to modify last week's Easy Baked Lemon Chicken recipe)!

Let me go into the details of the modifications I made to the recipe so that you can choose which ones to use when you make this dish.  First, I swirled a little olive oil in the bottom of the skillet before adding the chicken just because I cannot bring myself to add dry chicken to a dry pan.  Next, I used Tyson Trimmed and Ready Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, which have all visible fat removed and are uniform in size so that all of the chicken breasts cook in the same amount of time.  And since I used store-bought pesto, I spooned some into a small bowl before spreading it on the chicken to prevent contamination of the container.  Any pesto left in the bowl can then be spread over the tops of the chicken breasts before baking.

I used California Sun Dry Julienne Cut Sun-Dried Tomatoes with Herbs for ease of preparation and added flavor (available here).  The original recipe uses fresh mozzarella, but I think I actually prefer the packaged shredded type for this dish, as you can sprinkle additional cheese over the top to finish off the dish for added cheesy goodness.  I did not have fresh garlic in the house but I did have a bottle of good quality garlic-infused oil, so I used that instead, which I think made it easier to add garlic flavor to the tomatoes.  Finally, I omitted the red pepper flakes because I do not like them, but feel free to add them back in if you prefer.

It may seem like I made a lot of changes, but all of these modifications are actually very minor.  One final suggestion is to serve this dish with mashed sweet potatoes, spooning the pan sauce generously over each serving.  If you do so, you are in for a truly ambrosial experience!

Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts Caprese

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/3 C. pesto (homemade or refrigerated store-bought)
3-4 T. julienne cut oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, plus 3-4 T. oil
1 C. shredded mozzarella (packaged pre-shredded type is fine)
1 T. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved if large
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. garlic-infused olive oil
1/4 C. fresh basil, julienned

Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally, not quite all the way through, and open the two flaps completely.  Spread both sides of each chicken breast with pesto.  Place 1 T. sun-dried tomatoes on one half of each piece, and top with 1-2 T. shredded mozzarella.

Swirl the 1 T. olive oil in the bottom of a 12-inch ovenproof skillet.  Fold the chicken breasts up again so that the filling is on the inside.  Place the chicken in the skillet.  Spread any remaining pesto over the top of each piece.  Spoon about 1 T. of the sun-dried tomato oil over each of the tops.  Lightly salt and pepper each chicken breast.

Bake the chicken at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove the skillet from the oven.  Scatter the tomatoes around the chicken.  Splash the balsamic vinegar and then the garlic oil evenly over the tomatoes, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the tomatoes, turn off the oven, and let the skillet sit in the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Remove from the oven, scatter the basil evenly over the top, and serve immediately.  Serves 3-4.