As you can see by my blog posts, I’ve been going out for dinner a lot and since I had the day off today I had all day to try and come up with something yummy for use to eat. J also had hockey so I needed to make sure it was going to make him get through a game. I decided to make chicken stuffed with a pesto goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto with carrots and herbed rice pilaf.

I had a pesto craving but wanted to do something different then pasta or a sandwich so I stuffed it into chicken. It was so easy and delicious.

Goat Cheese Pesto (this was enough for 2 stuffed breasts)

• small bunch of basil leafs
• 1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• ½ lemon juiced
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• One ounce goat cheese (about half of those small packages)
• One clove garlic

Throw everything into a mini food processor until completely incorporated. Taste, and make adjustments if needed. Season with salt and pepper. My measurements are probably a little off because I didn’t measure but you can really use any pesto recipe and basically just add a chunk of goat cheese.

Filling the chicken is fairly easy as well. Remember to take out a bunch of toothpicks out so you’re not reaching your chicken covered fingers into the box.
I took my chicken breasts and cut them, almost in half, while they’re lying flat. Once they’re opened (or butterflied) then you will probably want to cover in saran and pound down a bit so they’re a little flatter depending on how thick your chicken is. Throw down some of your pesto goat cheese, roll up and toothpick it so it doesn’t unroll.
Cook on 350 for about 15 min or until done on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Once cooked, I took 2 pieces of prosciutto and laid them down lengthwise slightly overlapping, placed cooked chicken (toothpicks removed!!) and roll into the prosciutto. I put them back in the oven for 5 min just to warm up the prosciutto but that’s not necessary.

The rice Pilaf is also fairly easy and is a nice change from your everyday rice. This was my first time making it, and I think it tasted just like moms! Rice usually is one part rice to two parts liquid so this recipe is based on that. If the rice you have is different than change the rice to water ratio and cook for the time it instructs you to.

Ingredients

• ½ onion diced small
• One garlic clove
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup white rice
• Herbs of your choice
• 2 cups of chicken stock (reduced sodium if possible)

Heat a pot or frying pan to medium high heat with olive oil and sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic until fragrant and mixed in. Add rice and stir for about 5-10 min. The rice should slowly start to brown and give off a nutty scent. Once you’ve reached this point pour in your chicken stock and add herbs. Turn heat down to low and cover, cook for 20 min. Take rice off heat and let sit for another 5-10 min and fluff with a fork. It will be so flavourful and yummy that you won’t need to add a thing. JUST REMEMBER to check the cooking instructions on the rice you have and change the rice to water ratio if its different then one part rice to two parts liquid.

J was super impressed with this meal, especially the chicken. He told me that I could make this any time! I have to agree, it was pretty good. The creamy yet tangy pesto works so well with chicken and then wrapping it up with another super flavourful meat added a whole new level. Next time I might use one piece of prosciutto per chicken breast instead of 2 only because it’s pretty salt but J had to problem with the extra delicious pork product around his chicken. YUM!