Baked Chicken with Mozzarella and Walnut and Basil Pesto
Serves: 4
Time: 40 minutes
Sometimes we just need grilled cheese, this is a really yummy not quite healthy but not so naughty version of a parmigiana that is without the crumbing (the naughty stuff). So because we have loaded the chicken up with mozzarella I have left parmesan out of this dish.
Leftovers
I have made too much pesto than is needed for this recipe so for lunch tomorrow I cooked up some gluten free pasta and tossed the rest of the pesto through.
What you'll need
1 cup of buckwheat
2 chicken breasts
1 bunch of basil
1/4 cup of walnuts
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
100g mozzarella cheese in a block
1 small bag of baby rocket
From the Pantry
olive oil
salt and pepper
Prep and Cook
Preheat Oven to 1eighty
Cook Buckwheat
Rinse buckwheat under cold water, bring a pot of water up to the boil with a pinch of salt and cook for 15 minutes until soft, then strain off the water and set aside to cool.
Make Pesto
Pick basil leaves and place in a small hand held blender with the walnuts and roughly 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and a large pinch of sea salt flakes and some fresh cracked pepper and process until almost smooth.
Cook Chicken
Use an oven safe fry pan and bring up to a high heat with a touch of olive oil.
Remove the small chicken fillet from the back of the breast then season both sides of the chicken well and lay into the pan presentation side down and cook for 3 minutes until lightly golden. Turn over and cook for a further 3 minutes then turn the heat off. Slice mozzarella into about 6 rounds and lay across the top of the chicken top each breast with a couple of teaspoons of basil pesto and place in the oven to cook for 15 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked remove from the oven and allow to rest for 2 minutes.
Plate it Pretty
Toss your rocket through the buckwheat with a touch of olive oil and some salt and pepper and serve up two generous spoonfuls onto each plate.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and pile up ontop of the chicken and serve alongside the buckwheat.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
Cook some gluten free spaghetti to use up with the remainder of the basil pesto.