The Ultimate Chicken Dish

I forgot to take a photo of it cooked!!

Ok - why is this the ultimate I hear you ask … well because its simple to make, versatile, uses things that you likely have or can get easily, can be your weeknight treat or a dinner party pleaser and its possible to make it in advance and set aside …. so here we go.

We all know that Chicken is delicious but that it needs to be stuffed or slathered in cream in order for it to be a suitable dinner for guests but we don’t always want to cook with cream nor do we have the time and energy for stuffing chicken so why not use cheese for the luxury of it and if you use the right cheese - you can top the chicken instead of stuffing it.

Prosciutto - Aldi have it at €1.79 and its perfect

Red Pesto - I use Cucina from Aldi €1.19 because it uses less pine nuts and more cashews.

Chicken Breasts - use Large ones!

Grated Parmesan - always have a bag of this in the fridge

Melting Cheese - eg Fontina, Raclette, Camembert, Taleggio - you need about 140 g per 4 breasts

Breadcrumbs -I always keep a bag in the freezer, they can be sprinkled from frozen

Paprika - for dusting … or the herb of your choice.

Preheat the Oven to 180

Put your chicken in an oven proof dish

Cover your entire chicken breast with a slice of the prosciutto.

Then in a cup mix about 3 teaspoons of pesto per breast with some extra parmesan - about a 3 to 1 ratio.

Spread the pesto generously all over the chicken and prosciutto going as far over the sides as you can.

Then slice the cheese and lay it on top as pictured above - I actually could have fitted a bit more cheese but that’s fine. I’d used more than half the night before (yes - I had this 2 nights in a row it was so good)

Cook in a preheated oven at 180 for 10 minutes uncovered.

Take it out and sprinkle all over with breadcrumbs which will stick to the melting cheese, as pictured and sprinkle with some Paprika or Hot Paprika.

Pop it back in the oven for 25 minutes and away you go.

You can pop some other veg into the dish if you like or have room. Carrots do very well here and I had some celery to use up.

I served this with Baked Shallots - which was madly easy and Boulangere Potatoes which if done right are just as nice as Dauphinoise but without all the calories. Recipes will be linked shortly.

I didn’t even bother with salt and pepper - it was that good!

If you need to use up the prosciutto by all means put an extra slice on when lying it on your chicken.

If you want to make this in advance - just cover with clingfilm when you have placed your cheese on top and set aside in the fridge - so ideally you would have that all done in the morning the day you are serving it. Just take it out of the fridge an hour before you put it in the oven.