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Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts

The recipe is simple enough that you could make Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts for a picnic or dress it up for dinner.

I first ran across this recipe in a Frugal Gourmet recipe book. I can't for the life of me find this recipe in any of the cookbooks I have. It's a shame because I have always liked the Frugal Gourmet and I’d love to promote the book that has this recipe. He made several suggestions for different stuffings in addition to pesto like figs with goat cheese, and walnuts with blue cheese. You can stuff chicken breasts with just about anything using this recipe. It's great for an experiment.

I served Southern Style Green Beans with the chicken breast this time. But really it's a very flexible entrée you could serve with just about anything. The recipe is simple enough that you could make Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts for a picnic or it could be dressed up for a dinner. You can also serve this dish cold and it’s really yummy.

For 4 people

Ingredients

Conversions to European measurements can be found here!

4 whole chicken breasts (with skin optionally)
1 1/2 cups fresh basil pesto (basil pesto recipe)
2 whole eggs
2 tablespoons water
fresh bread crumbs
8-10 small bamboo skewers
1 pint vegetable oil (for frying)

Procedure

Preparing the chicken breasts is the toughest part of this recipe. But, not to worry it's pretty easy. First prepare the meat by pulling off the skin, trimming the fat, and removing the rib meat and tenderloins. You can freeze any meat you cut away and save it for a soup somewhere down the road.

Next you'll have to pound the breast meat flat. I think it’s easiest to do this with plastic wrap. Pull out a long sheet of plastic wrap and lay it flat on the table, then place the chicken breast on one half of it, then fold the empty half of plastic wrap over the top of the breast. This will create a plastic wrap shell that the breast rests inside. Next you just hammer the fattest part of the chicken until it is the same width as the thinnest. Not as thin as the paper thin edges, you're going for about a half inch thick approximately.

Next you slather one side of the breasts in Basil Pesto with a nice thick coat. Put on as much as you think you can roll. The next step is to roll them up. Don't worry about rolling them tight just try to create a nicely shaped cylinder at the end. Once you’ve rolled 'em you can keep them in place with the bamboo skewers.

Now is a good time to start heating the frying oil. If you use a fat thermometer you’re looking at 350 degrees. For the rest of us just until the oil appears to shimmer. Don't let the oil smoke. And preheat the oven to 350.

Next prepare an egg wash by beating the two eggs with the water. Brush the egg wash all over the chicken breasts and coat them liberally with breadcrumbs. Lay the breasts into the frying oil very soon after applying the breadcrumbs. If you wait too long the crumbs will melt and you'll have more of a batter coating.

Don't fry the breasts for too long they will finish cooking in the oven. All you want from frying is to seal the crust all the way around and bring out a nice golden color. Approximately 5 minutes per side. If the crust gets too dark no matter how long they have been frying pull them out of the oil. Drain off any excess fat and put the breasts into a baking pan. Let them bake for about 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads an internal temperature of 180 degrees.

Tricks

If you don't have a kitchen hammer don't worry. I don't have one. I use a rubber mallet that was originally for auto body work. I have in the past used a rolling pin, a soup can, my palm, and a giant coffee mug as a kitchen hammer. Just don't use anything dirty or anything that will cut or tear the meat.

If your chicken breasts are super thick, I hate to think how they get that way, probably the result of some serious genetic modifications or steroids or both....yuck! The ones I used when we took the pictures were of this unnatural variety. To overcome that, I butterflied the breasts, also a very easy thing to do. Just cut the breasts along the thickest part in a straight line about half way through. Then lay the breasts out flat by spreading the cut open.

If you want the breasts to come out in near perfect rolls use plastic wrap and the freezer to aid the process. Roll the chicken breasts over a big piece of plastic wrap and when you have rolled them the best you can tightly pull the plastic wrap around the breast. Then twist the ends like a big Tootsie Pop while using your hands to push out any air. Use your hands to form the breast into its best possible shape. Then set them in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes, just enough to firm the breasts up. Do not let them freeze.

Note

Reserve the skin if you want to wrap the breasts in the skin before you fry them. Wrapping the breasts in the skin is really handy if you are using a stuffing other than pesto that has cheese or other gooey stuff that might melt and run out while its cooking.