Last week, I posted about making fresh pesto from the basil I grew in the garden. This week, I am going to talk about one of my favorite recipes that uses pesto – stuffed chicken breast with prosciutto.

The chicken, with homemade macaroni (ok, rotini ;)) and cheese and Georgie’s green beans.

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found years ago for stuffed chicken breasts. I don’t even remember where I came across the recipe. There are many recipes like this, the most well-know are Chicken Cordon Bleu and Chicken Kiev.

Most of these recipes have you brown the chicken in a pan, then finish cooking it in the oven. That works well, especially if your chicken is thicker. I try to get the chicken as thin as I can, and cook it entirely on the stove top.

Chicken with prosciutto

  • Chicken breast – 1 per serving
  • Prosciutto
  • Smoked Mozzarella cheese – sliced about 1/4 inch thick,
  • Pesto
  • Bread crumbs (I use Italian seasoned crumbs)
  • Salt
  • Pepper

To prepare the dish, I slice the cheese and get the filling ingredients ready first.

Folded prosciutto around cheese and pesto. Some sliced cheese and the homemade pesto.

I lay the prosciutto on a cutting board or plate, put some sliced smoked mozzarella on it and add the pesto. I fold the side and ends of the meat in to make a neat package.

Once the filling is ready. I prepare the chicken. I try to find the thinnest whole chicken breast I can. If the breast is thick, I will use a mallet and flatten it out some for even cooking.

I have tried to use the thin sliced breasts from the store, but they are often so thin that you cannot make a pocket for the filling without cutting through the breast. Use a fillet knife to cut a pocket in the breast.

I slide the filling into the pocket, with the folded side facing out. Gently pat the breast down, trying to cover the filling as much as you can. Add salt and pepper to taste and set them on a plate until you are ready to cook them. They can be prepared to this point earlier in the day, covered with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for cooking later.

Cooking and serving

I put about a 1/4 inch of oil in the pan and get it medium hot. Lightly bread the chicken with the breadcrumbs and put it in the pan. I turn it about every 4-5 minutes while cooking. It takes 20 to 30 minutes to cook, depending on how thick the chicken is. Make sure the chicken is well done.

If you have the ingredients on hand, it is a fairly quick dinner to make. You can freeze the cheese and prosciutto for a couple of months, so I will make this about once a month and use up those items. I usually serve it with homemade macaroni and cheese and a vegetable dish.