Difficulty: 2/5
This recipe was a really pleasant surprise! I was in bed thinking “hmmm what if I stuff a chicken breast with pesto and mozzarella… ooohhh and I could bread that… with panko! No, panko and walnuts! Yup! I’ll try that tomorrow.” And so I did! It’s a really pleasing combo. The crunchy outside, the melted center, and the nutty flavour from the outside and the pesto too. Also, this pesto recipe you can also use for pasta, sandwiches or anything else your heart desires. I ate this chicken with some brown rice with carrots :).
Portions: 4
Ingredients:
For the pesto:
– 50g almonds
– 50g walnuts
– 100ml olive oil
– 50g basil leaves without stalks
– salt and pepper to taste
– 1 garlic clove
For the chicken:
– 4 small chicken breasts
– 100g mozzarella cheese
– 100g flour
– 1 egg
– 50g panko breadcrumbs
– 30g walnuts
– salt and pepper to taste
– vegetable oil for frying
Procedure:
1. For the pesto, first toast the almonds and walnuts in the oven at 200C until they become fragrant and toasted. Let them cool down and put everything in the food processor.
2. You can keep the pesto in a container topped with olive oil so it doesn’t turn brown
3. We’re now going to cut the chicken so that it can be stuffed. You go down with the knife along the center halfway through. There, you open pockets to the right and to the left also not going all the way to the end.
4. Put the pesto in the center, then grated mozzarella on top. I used about one heaped spoon per breast. Make sure it fills the pockets you created
5. Now we’re going to tie it with string. Tie it considering that it will mark where you’re going to cut it at the end so you can take it out, or it could also be 1 string every 2 slices. I don’t think more than that would work, the stuffing will come out. As you are tying, make sure the stuffing remains inside. A couple of times I pushed it inside
6. Next, we’ll bread it. For this, prepare 3 plates: one with flour, another with a beaten egg (just to mix the egg white and yolk) and one with the panko and ground walnuts (I used a food processor, you could also chop it small). Mix the latter.
7. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then into the flour. Make sure to pat out the excess. Then into the egg, also making sure it’s not excessive, and finally go through the panko and walnuts. Keep it in the fridge for 30min so the egg sets and makes it easier so the breading doesn’t unstick from frying.
8. Fry up! Use medium heat to give time for the heat to penetrate the chicken withut burning the panko. It will take about 5min per side to cook through.
Ready!! Serve pretty and enjoy!!
This looks SO good
It is! You should try it 🙂