I got out of the comfort zone and stuffed the chicken breasts…
Last Saturday, though I got the feeling of dining out I kind of overcame it and decided to give myself a fine dining experience sitting in my own home. I had never thought of stuffing chicken breasts before as I had other things to make with them. When everything sounded unimpressive I finally had to try stuffing the chicken breasts. I had a lot of fun stuffing and baking the chicken, served it over sauteed swiss chard and topped it with ghee roasted plantain. The appealing look of this dish itself made my taste buds go wild and it tasted like a five star restaurant dish. Guess what? I ended up making a second batch.
Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts
- Preparation time: less than 15 minutes
- Baking time- 30 minutes
Ingredients:
For stuffing chicken breasts:
- Chicken breasts or thin chicken cutlets- 4
- Tomato ketchup- 1 tbsp/chicken breast
- Swiss chard or spinach- 1 leaf/chicken breast or a few spinach leaves
- Parmesan cheese, grated- 1 handful/chicken breast
- Ground pepper- 1/8 tsp/chicken breast
- Salt- little
Instruction
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- If you are using chicken breast, cut it in half vertically to make it thin.
- Sprinkle ground pepper and a pinch of salt over the chicken breast.
- Spread 1 tbsp tomato ketchup over the chicken breast.
- Place swiss chard or spinach over it.
- Top with a handful of parmesan cheese.
- Gently roll the chicken breast, and keep it tight.
- If there is any cheese popping out of the roll, remove it and spread it over the chicken.
- Have a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and greased with cooking spray ready.
- Place the rolled chicken breast with the opening side as the bottom on the baking sheet.
- Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn on the broiler mode in the oven to high.
- Place the baked chicken breasts in the broiler and broil for 10 more minutes.
- Remove from the oven and keep aside.
For sauteeing swiss chard:
Ingredients
- Swiss chard or spinach- a bunch
- Butter- 1 tbsp
- Red dry whole chili- 2
- Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
- Parmesan cheese- 2 handfuls
Instruction
- While the chicken breast is baking, start making this.
- Place a cooking pan over medium heat, add butter and let it melt.
- Add the red dry whole chilies, saute for a second.
- Add swiss chard, cook till it has wilted and starts to get fried.
- Sprinkle ground pepper over it.
- Add parmesan cheese and cook till the cheese melts a bit.
- Remove from the flame.
For making Ghee roasted plantain:
Ingredients
- Ghee- 4 tbsp
- Very Ripe Plantain, cut thin- 2
- Sugar- 2 tbsp
Instruction
- Heat a non-stick cooking pan over medium heat.
- Use very ripe plantain for making this, the riper the better.
- Peel off the skin and cut the plantain in half horizontally, now cut each horizontal half vertically into thin long slices.
- Melt the ghee in the heated pan, place the plantain slices over it.
- Fry it till both the sides start to turn brown.
- Sprinkle sugar over it and fry for a minute.
- Remove from the pan and keep aside.
How to plate:
- On a clean plate, place some sauteed swiss chard, place 2 stuffed chicken breasts, pour any juice from baking the chicken left on the baking sheet and top it with 3 slices of Ghee roasted plantain.
Tips:
- If you don’t have swiss chard, use spinach instead.
- Don’t exclude parmesan cheese, it gives a really nice aroma and taste to the chicken.
- Topping with ghee roasted plantain is just optional, you could use other fruits like caramelized pears or peaches.
Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast with Swiss Chard
Ingredients
For stuffing chicken breasts
- Chicken breasts or thin chicken cutlets- 4
- Tomato ketchup- 1 tbsp/chicken breast
- Swiss chard or spinach- 1 leaf/chicken breast or a few spinach leaves
- Parmesan cheese, grated- 1 handful/chicken breast
- Ground pepper- ⅛ tsp/chicken breast
- Salt- little
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- If you are using chicken breast, cut it in half vertically to make it thin.
- Sprinkle ground pepper and a pinch of salt over the chicken breast.
- Spread 1 tbsp tomato ketchup over the chicken breast.
- Place swiss chard or spinach over it.
- Top with a handful of parmesan cheese.
- Gently roll the chicken breast, and keep it tight.
- If there is any cheese popping out of the roll, remove it and spread it over the chicken.
- Have a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and greased with cooking spray ready.
- Place the rolled chicken breast with the opening side as the bottom on the baking sheet.
- Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn on the broiler mode in the oven to high.
- Place the baked chicken breasts in the broiler and broil for 10 more minutes.
- Remove from the oven and keep aside.
Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast with Swiss Chard
For sauteeing swiss chard:
Ingredients
- Swiss chard or spinach- a bunch
- Butter- 1 tbsp
- Red dry whole chili- 2
- Ground pepper- ¼ tsp
- Parmesan cheese- 2 handfuls
Instructions
- While the chicken breast is baking, start making this.
- Place a cooking pan over medium heat, add butter and let it melt.
- Add the red dry whole chilies, saute for a second.
- Add swiss chard, cook till it has wilted and starts to get fried.
- Sprinkle ground pepper over it.
- Add parmesan cheese and cook till the cheese melts a bit.
- Remove from the flame.
Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast with Swiss Chard
For making Ghee roasted plantain:
Ingredients
- Ghee- 4 tbsp
- Very Ripe Plantain, cut thin- 2
- Sugar- 2 tbsp
Instructions
- Heat a non-stick cooking pan over medium heat.
- Use very ripe plantain for making this, the riper the better.
- Peel off the skin and cut the plantain in half horizontally, now cut each horizontal half longitudinally into thin slices.
- Melt the ghee in the heated pan, place the plantain slices over it.
- Fry it till both the sides start to turn brown.
- Sprinkle sugar over it and fry for a minute.
- Remove from the pan and keep aside.
How to plate
- On a clean plate, place some sauteed swiss chard, place 2 stuffed chicken breasts, pour any juice from baking the chicken left on the baking sheet and top it with 3 slices of Ghee roasted plantain.
Notes
•If you don't have swiss chard, use spinach instead.
•Don't exclude parmesan cheese, it gives a really nice aroma and taste to the chicken.
•Topping with ghee roasted plantain is just optional, you could use other fruits like caramelized pears or peaches.
•Don't exclude parmesan cheese, it gives a really nice aroma and taste to the chicken.
•Topping with ghee roasted plantain is just optional, you could use other fruits like caramelized pears or peaches.
