Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Ricotta, Pesto, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

This dish came together because I just happened to have all four of these ingredients in the refrigerator and I needed to make dinner. I had made the sun-dried tomatoes a few days ago without any plan for them other than letting Eric snack on them. I had a little ricotta that needed to be used before it expired, and I happened to pick up the pesto at the store on a whim. It all just came together into one delicious dinner.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoon ricotta cheese
2 tablespoon mozzarella, shredded
2 tablespoon Parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes*
3 tablespoon pesto**
pepper, to taste
1 egg white
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I usually make my own by crushing saltine crackers)

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch pain with cooking spray.

With a mallet, thin the chicken breasts to a 1/4-inch thickness. Mix the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and pepper together in a small bowl. Spread half the mixture on each chicken breast and roll the breasts up tight.

Place the egg whites and breadcrumbs each in a different shallow bowl. Dip the chicken rolls in the egg then in the breadcrumbs, coating it. Set the chicken breasts seam side down in the baking dish. Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

*I make my own sun-dried tomatoes out of cherry tomatoes. If you're using sun-dried tomatoes out of can, you'll want to chop them up.

**I use Knorr pesto mix to make my pesto. But you can use jarred pesto or homemade.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

I'll be up front with you, you're going to see a lot of chicken recipes on this blog. Why? Because I don't eat red meat. It's not a political statement or even a health choice; I just don't like the taste or texture. And yes, that includes steak too. (However, according to Eric, I make a mean ground beef chili.) I also rarely eat pork. That means there is a lot of poultry served in our house, which can get boring. So I'm always finding new things to do with it.

I think the original version of this recipe came from Kraft Recipes, but I've changed it up a bit to suit my tastes. 

This recipe only makes two servings.

Stuffed chicken with a mountain of mashed potatoes

Ingredients:
2 small boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons frozen spinach, thawed, drained and coarsely chopped
2 ounces low-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
3-4 basil leaves, torn
1 garlic clove, minced
1 egg white
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I usually make my own by crushing saltine crackers)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 of a 14.9 oz can of tomatoes seasoned with basil, oregano and garlic
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8x8-inch pain with cooking spray.

With a mallet, thin the chicken breasts to a 1/4-inch thickness. Mix the spinach, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, pepper,1/4 cup mozzarella, and garlic together in a bowl. Spread half the mixture on each chicken breast and roll the breasts up tight.

Place the egg whites and breadcrumbs each in a different shallow bowl. Dip the chicken rolls in the egg then in the breadcrumbs, coating it. Set the chicken breasts seam side down in the baking dish. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Pour the tomatoes over the chicken. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Enjoy!

~Krissy