These are easy to make: slice a pocket, fill and tie.
I cooked them in a skillet rather than the oven as I wanted the ham to get a bit crispy.
Being efficient, (and kind to mon mari who does the dishes) I made the sauce in the same skillet when the chicken breasts were almost done.
Try not to overcook the chicken breasts as the tend to dry out. I wanted the goat cheese to be just starting to melt. You may have to adjust the time, up or down, by a few minutes depending on size.
The goat cheese I use comes on a log about 1 1/2 inches (5cm) in diameter and has a white rind. Leave the rind on and cut the slices to fit if needed.
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Goat Cheese
Total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 2oz (60gr) aged goat cheese, sliced about 1/4″ thick
- 2 slices Prosciutto or other dry-cured ham (about 2oz, 60gr)
- 6 – 8 fresh marjoram or basil leaves
- kitchen string
- 1 tbs olive oil
- Sauce:
- 1 small leek, sliced
- 4 green garlic, sliced
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) white wine
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) chicken stock
- 1/3 cup (3oz, 90gr) Greek or plain yogurt
- 1 tbs cornstarch (maizena, corn flour) dissolved in 2 tbs water
Instructions:
- With a sharp knife make a long slit in the edge of the chicken breast – cutting horizontally and being careful not to cut through the other side. Make the cut on the ‘straight’ edge of the breast. You should have a pocket the shape of the breast with 1/3 inch of ‘uncut’ chicken around 3 sides.
- Divide the goat cheese and herbs and put into each chicken breast.
- Wrap each breast with a slice of ham.
- Wrap the entire breast with kitchen string to hold it together.
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet, medium heat.
- Add chicken breasts and brown well on all sides, 6 – 8 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium low, cover and let cook 10 minutes longer.
- Uncover, turn breasts and move to the side of the skillet.
- Add leeks, green garlic and sauté until tender, 5 – 7 minutes.
- Remove chicken and cover to keep warm.
- Increase heat under skillet, add wine and heat to boiling and cook 1 minute.
- Add chicken stock and heat to boiling.
- Add cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened.
- Remove from heat and stir in yogurt.
- Remove string from chicken and serve, sauce on the side.
These are our tangled trees….
The trunk on the left is the wisteria and the one on the right is the evergreen.
This is how they looked at the end or March. When the wisteria looses it’s leaves for winter they get rather ugly.
When the wisteria blooms, however, they get rather spectacular.
When we open our door these days we’re hit with two things: the fantastic floral fragrance of the blooming wisteria and the deafening sound made by the hundreds (thousands?) of bees.
We hope both trees continue to thrive. Wisterias tend to choke things off but there’s nothing we can do to control it at this point. They’ve probably been together at least fifty years.
We do manage to keep it from taking over the house.
Just barely…..
I’ve cut wisteria creepers twenty feet from the tree.
I so miss our wisteria; at least I can fix the chicken dish which looks lovely.
Easily understand the creepers.
Yummm Katie – delicious sounding stuffed chicken breasts…I have a number of recipe too, but finding a new one is always a treat. I love wisteria so gorgeous and romantic – yours is huge, well after 50 years or so I guess so!
We will get to appreciate our neighbour’s wisteria – we just have to watch out for the odd tendrils that creep towards the house roof. I am always amazed at how much they can grow in a day. I don’t know if it is because we have a very cold winter here on the Highveldt but years after we removed a wisteria,small plants would pop up from the roots.
I do a similar chicken dish but using feta. It is good
Wow, beautiful wisteria!
Looks like two successful unions, in both the culinary and dendrology department.
Tanna, I have to admit I wish this wisteria was a deeper purple. The flowers are really pretty up close but kind of pale hanging in the tree.
Ina,I was searching for something to do indoors – but not the slow cooker lol. At least 50,,, the trunk is huge!
Gill, we just have to keep this one off of the house… and out of the well and off the bricks and, and….
Zoomie, and it really smells nice, too 😉
kate, I’m not sure if the tree union was planned or accidental.