Spontaneous Chicken Breasts

This was a happy and delicious accident, created out of desperation and what I had in the fridge.

You know how boneless chicken breasts bore me.
I was at the point where I couldn't look at another one after dieting for 8 weeks.

I looked in the fridge and decided to just stuff them with anything and everything that I had.

I always have some kind of roasted tomato or pepper on hand. I always stock fresh mozzarella cheese and some kind of ham and there were plenty of herbs in the garden right now to make at least 2 dinners!

So I guess you could say this was a spontaneous meal, and boy was it good!

Chicken Breasts Stuffed w/ Fresh Mozzarella & Roasted Tomatoes:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thinly sliced are best)
4 oven roasted or sundried tomatoes
4 slices of sliced fresh mozzarella (from a wet ball of cheese)
4 slices of fresh basil
4 swipes of basil pesto
4 slices of prosciutto
2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1/4 cup of chicken broth
salt and pepper

Flatten out your chicken breasts. Some people pound them, but I like to spread them out by the membranes with my hands (Martha Stewart showed me this on her show).

Spread a small amount of pesto on each breast. Now lay a slice of prosciutto over the pesto. Top with a slice of fresh mozzarella, a roasted tomato slice, then top with a basil leaf.



Roll the chicken breasts tightly and secure each bundle with 2 toothpicks. This is the tricky part. It was a bit of a pain getting the toothpicks to hold them down, but be persistent! You are the stronger one!

Sprinkle the chicken bundles with salt and pepper.
Saute your garlic cloves in olive oil on medium heat for a minute, now add your chicken bundles to the pan.



Starting seam side down, brown your chicken on all sides for about 8 minutes.
turning them once in a while to make sure all sides are browning.



Transfer to a roasting pan and pour in 1/4 cup of chicken stock.
Bake bundles for 20 minutes (if using thin sliced breasts) at 350 degrees.



Let sit on counter 5 minutes before slicing into roulades.
DON'T FORGET TO REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS!!!!

Pour pan sauce over and serve.