Tomato & Pesto Chicken

You can’t argue with the raw ingredients here.  Who doesn’t love pesto, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and freshly grated parmesan?  The time and effort this takes is another thing to love about this recipe.  I recommend this to anyone who doesn’t have the luxury of tons of time to make dinner but still wants something that didn’t come from the freezer or got picked up on the way home from work.  But I sure do enjoy Ben walking through the door with a pizza box every now and then…

pestochicken

While wasting time on Pinterest, I stumbled upon this recipe from Skinnytaste.com.  I took the basics of the recipe, kind of ignored the measurements, and whipped this up in no time last week.  We loved it and will have it again I am sure.

I had everything I needed for this meal already in my kitchen except for the chicken.  The version of myself I aspire to be would’ve used the pesto she’d made last summer with the basil from her garden and then froze in matching labeled containers (see post on Skinnytaste).  Instead I used a jar of Giada pesto from Target.  And while lacking in fresh from the garden flavor, it was good.

This can easily be adapted to serve 1 person or a dozen.  You can slice fresh mozzarella  or use the bag of shredded mozzarella, but provolone would be a great choice as well.  If you have a different type of pesto, try it out.  I think a nice sprinkle of fresh chopped basil would be a great and beautiful finish.  The ingredients below are what you will need, but the amounts are merely suggestions.  If you want a healthier option, use the measurement from skinnytaste.  I didn’t even measure.  So use your judgement and make it how you like it.

Skinnytaste slices each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 cutlets.  For her this may be portion control, but I think it’s a great way to prepare the chicken even if you aren’t concerned with all that.  The chicken cooks more evenly this way and with some of the ridiculously thick chicken breasts I’ve bought in my time it makes a lot of sense to slice them this way for cooking.

Pair with pasta and steamed veggies or crusty bread and a nice green salad.  Enjoy.

Tomato & Pesto Chicken

Slightly adapted from Skinnytaste

Ingredients

  • Boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 per person), sliced lengthwise into 2 thin pieces if breats are especially thick
  • Basil pesto, 2-3 teaspoons per chicken breast
  • Small tomatoes such as roma or campari, about 1 per chicken breast depending on their size, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese, 1-2 tablespoons per chicken breast
  • Freshly grated Parmesan, to taste
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Arrange in pan sprayed with non-stick spray or foil lined and sprayed for easier clean up.
  4. Spread desired amount of pesto on each breast and bake for 10-12 minutes, a few minutes longer if you did not slice the chicken into thinner pieces.  Chicken should be almost done.
  5. Remove from the oven and place sliced tomatoes on each chicken breast.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and then Parmesan cheese.
  6. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, until cheese is melted and just begins to brown.