Recipe: Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I gave a lot of thought to what would be the first recipe I posted on this blog. Okay, okay. That's a lie. I took all of 10 seconds to flip through the recipes I've made in the last 6 weeks and picked this one because it was near the top and was utterly and completely delicious.

In future recipe posts I hope to be adding lots of pictures of the different stages along the way, but as I made this  approximately 6 weeks ago I, alas, have none. Oh well. What's a girl to do? Post a ridiculous cartoon about chickens, duh!


 


Anyways, on to the recipe, which I found in my current favourite cookbook, The Girl Can't Cook, by the amazing Cinda Chavich.


Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Red Peppers and Goat Cheese*

Ingredients:
2 red or yellow bell peppers

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

½ lb. (250g) creamy fresh goat cheese

1 Tbsp. (15 mL) olive oil

2 cups (500 mL) chicken broth

½ cup (125 mL) dry white wine

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

2 green onions, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fresh herbs to garnish

Directions:

1. To roast the peppers, grill or broil until blackened on all sides. Place the peppers in a paper bag to steam and cool, then peel off the charred skin and remove the stems, ribs and seeds. Slice the peppers into thin strips and set aside.

2.  Lay the chicken breasts flat on a cutting board. Insert a small paring knife into the thickest part of the side of the chicken breast. Holding your palm over the breast, wiggle the knife back and forth to form a pocket, keeping the entry to the pocket small. Use your fingers to stuff the pockets with the goat cheese and roasted pepper.

3. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, non-stick skillet over high heat and brown the chicken quickly on both sides. This will take about 4 minutes. Add the broth and white wine to the pan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 6-7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep it warm.

4. Boil the liquid in the pan hard until it has been reduced by half. Add the cream and cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the fresh herbs and green onion and simmer 1 minute longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm over low heat.

5. Slice the chicken breasts and arrange on warmed, individual plates. Drizzle with some of the sauce and garnish with more fresh herbs. Heat the remaining sauce and pass separately.

6. Dig in!

Bee's Notes

Something I learned from making this recipe? Roasted red pepper is really slimy. And stuffing raw chicken with slippery peppers and soft goat cheese makes one heck of a mess! Oh well. It was totally worth it!

I also found that the chicken took longer to cook than the recipe indicates. Maybe I stuffed them too full? But when cooking in the broth, I found that flipping them about halfway through helped to make sure they were cooked all the way through. Some of the cheese leaked out into the sauce while cooking, but don't worry about it -- it just made the sauce even more deliciously creamy. Mmmmmmm. 

The other great thing about this recipe is that once it's sliced and drizzled with sauce, the chicken looks amazing on a plate. Like something you got at a restaurant! This is one recipe that will definitely impress.

You could pretty much serve this with anything and have it be delicious, but I paired it with roasted asparagus and baby red potatoes. Yum!

 

* You may begin to notice a bit of a goat cheese theme crop up on this blog. I have no excuse other than the fact that I've recently discovered that goat cheese is freakin' DELICIOUS.