Stuffed Chicken with Mozzarella, Semi Dried Tomatoes and Basil, Roasted Veg and Cauliflower Puree
Serves: 2
Time: 50 mins
If you would prefer to leave out the mozarella, then roughly chop your semi dried tomatoes and basil and toss your breasts in them with a little oil and salt and pepper and bake whole instead.
Leftovers
The chicken and the roasted veggies are great for leftovers but use up all your cauli mash with dinner as it isn’t so good cold.
What you'll need
2 large chicken breasts skin 400-600g
8 pieces of semi dried tomatoes
6-8 basil leaves
125g mozzarella (leftovers is great for toasties or kids emergency pizza)
1/2 cauliflower
2 bunches of broccolini
1/2 lemon
1 clove of garlic.
1 packet of brussel sprouts approx 200g
1 bunch of asparagus
1/2 a bunch of watercress
1/3 bunch of parsley
From the pantry
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
Optional for Veggo’s
You could swap the chicken for very simple stuffed mushrooms
Prep and Cook
Preheat Oven to 200c
Put a Large Pot of Water on to Boil.
To Paper or Not To Paper
I am a baking paper fiend but that is mostly because I hate washing dishes, so the cleaner the tray to begin with, the better it is for me. But...roasting veggies can be done directly on a tray and you may notice that they work slightly better as there is more direct contact with the hot surface of your tray - they get a hotter faster heat and can caramelize up quickly. Your choice.
Prep Veg
Cut the brown ends off your Brussel sprouts and slice each one in half. Toss in oil and salt and pepper and lay them out cut side down on a tray lined with paper. (If you are a fan, you could add some melted butter). Make sure they aren’t bunched together as you don’t want them to sweat.
Slice the woody ends off your asparagus.
Slice the base of the stalks off your broccolini, put into a mixing bowl with your asparagus and add the zest of your lemon. Roughly chop the garlic clove and toss all together with some oil and salt and pepper.
Spread out evenly on an oven tray lined with baking paper.
Stuff Chicken
Lay your breasts flat on the chopping board, take a sharp knife and cut a horizontal line halfway through the chicken (have a look at the picture if you’re unsure) but don’t cut all the way through, you’re just making a pocket to put the fillings into.
Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt.
In a large hot pan or griddle lightly seal off both sides of your chicken breasts (you are just giving the meat some colour not cooking completely).
For the filling, place 3 - 4 pieces of semi dried tomato inside your breasts, add 3 or 4 basil leaves on top, then top with sliced mozzarella and try not to have too much of the filling hanging out.
Cook Veg and Chicken
Add your chicken to the tray with your brussel sprouts and roast for 25 minutes.
Pop your tray with the broccolini and asparagus in the oven at the same time but you will need to take them out sooner as they cook faster.
Check to see your chicken is cooked right through by lifting up the top.
Toss brussel sprouts in chopped parsley.
While everything is cooking…
Cauli Puree
Cut cauliflower into large florets, remove the bulk of the stalk and drop into your pot of boiling water with a pinch of salt and cook till soft (approx 8 minutes).
Once soft remove from heat and strain off the water then blitz till smooth with a stick blender and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Season with salt and pepper.
Wash Watercress
Pick off the healthy tips and the good looking leaves from your watercress and plunge into a bowl of cold water.
Remove by hand, discard water and shake off excess water.
Plate it Pretty
Smooth the cauli puree across the base of your plate but don’t go right up to the edge, it looks nicer if you leave about a thumb sized rim around the edge.
Squeeze lemon juice over the watercress and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle over a pinch of sea salt.
Build your veg, scatter some brussel sprouts, then broc and asparagus and top with some cress.
Lay chicken over the top.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
To ensure you have leftovers you could slice some of your chicken off before you plate up for dinner.
I went with large breasts and once they are stuffed they make a very substantial sized portion.