There are so many ways to cook chicken and its various parts... Have you ever thought about stuffing just the chicken breast? It's not as hard as it sounds, in fact, its quite easy and turns out super tasty! In this recipe its best to utilize your cast iron skillet which moves from stove-top to oven. The chicken is seasoned with a wonderful sun-dried tomato and basil pesto, along with spinach and mozzarella. There are so many stuffing options as well, another family favorite is the Chicken Popper Stuffed Breast - recipe soon to follow! In the meantime, enjoy my Caprese stuffed chicken. ~Diane
Skillet Caprese Stuffed Chicken Breasts 4 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts, trimmed of fat One 10 oz. box of Frozen Spinach; thawed & well drained. 1 Cup Sun-dried Tomato Pesto with basil & cheese. (I use "Simply Pesto" DeLallo brand) 2 Cups shredded Mozzarella 2-3 Tablespoons Italian Seasonings Salt & Pepper to taste 2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil Preheat oven to 400º. Take each chicken breast and fillet in half horizontally without cutting all the way through. Open up the chicken, flatten out on your work surface and pound to 1 1/2 inch thickness if needed (this will help the chicken cook evenly.) Sprinkle with Italian seasonings, salt & pepper. Spread 1/4 cup of the tomato pesto over the entire inside surface of each chicken breast. Place spinach, and mozzarella over half the coated surface (see photos below) Fold the chicken breast back over onto itself. Secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle chicken (top & bottom) with more salt, pepper and Italian seasonings as preferred. In a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Sear chicken until golden, 3 minutes per side, then transfer the skillet to the oven and cook, about 25-30 minutes until meat thermometer in thickest part of top piece of chicken reads above 165. Remove toothpicks and serve. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home
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This recipe is an approved recipe from Ball Fresh Preserving (do not make any adjustments to quantities listed.) The ONLY "additional" work that needs done to make this more of a Pizza Sauce then a Pasta Sauce is adding a Cornstarch/Water Slurry *when opening the jars for reheating/use. This is a versatile sauce - you can use it "as-is" as a great and simple Pasta Sauce but, using approx. 2 Tbs Cornstarch/1 Tbs water *enough water to make a thick slurry - should thicken up this sauce into nice sauce for spreading onto homemade pizza dough - you can thicken, once opened to your desired sauce. I have used tapioca flour and even clear-jel to thicken in a slurry mix - all three work great. ~Enjoy! Diane Basil-Garlic Pizza Sauce
Ingredients:
DIRECTIONS: Prepare boiling water-bath canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside. Wash tomatoes; drain. Remove core and blanch tomatoes. Remove tomato skins, cut into quarters. Set aside. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent. Add in tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Puree mixture with an immersion blender, a food processor or kitchen blender, working in batches. Strain puree to remove seeds if preferred. Combine tomato mixture and fresh basil in large sauce pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until volume is reduced by half, stirring to prevent sticking. Add ¼ tsp Citric Acid or 1 Tbsp bottled lemon juice to each hot pint jar. Ladle hot sauce mixture into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head-space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight. PROCESS filled jars in a boiling water-bath canner for 35 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check for seal after 24 hours. Lids should not flex up and down when center is pressed. Clean jars, label and store without bands. Yield: 7 Pint Jars Recipe adapted from: Ball Fresh Preserving "Tomato Sauce" Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home I was watering my 'Wee Garden' today and noticed a rather large pickling cucumber that escaped me until now and I decided that the tomatoes that were now ripe and the cucumber needed to be put to good use. I found a nice yolo green pepper in my garden and a small jalapeno and added them into the 'mix'. I thought about making relish or pickling slices. Then my husband said "how about just something un-pickled and 'tasting like Summer in a Jar'. There you have it!! I decided to NOT pickle with vinegar's or sugars and to just let the flavors speak for themselves - they don't just whisper in this dish - they scream and it's a YAY! One of the easiest and tastier "salad/slaws" I've made to date - Enjoy! Diane Garden Fresh Tomato Toss Ingredients: 4-5 heirloom tomatoes, ripe 1 small green bell pepper 1 small jalapeno, seeded 1 large pickling cucumber 1 tsp kosher salt dash of course ground black pepper 1 tbs olive oil Fresh Garden Herbs: handful of garlic chive 6 leave of sweet basil handful of parsley few sprigs of Dill 2 small pinches of oregano Dice all veggies and place in mixing bowl. Add all herbs, with salt & pepper to Cuisinart and blend. Stream in just about 1 Tbs of olive oil until blended. Mix Herbs into veggies until well blended and refrigerate until serving. Make approx 1 pint. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home *This is a sharing post with recipes of similar type shared with you all - please make sure to check out Sumptuous Spoonful's link below - which has MORE great Cucumber and Tomato related recipes! https://www.facebook.com/SumptuousSpoonfuls/photos/a.165784163519595/1713306085434054/?type=3 |