Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese

This chicken turned out really well and was delicious. I served it with a potato, onion, and mushroom mixture, but it would go well with anything.



Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese (Cooking Light Oct 2007)

Roasting the garlic mellows its bite and gives the stuffing a subtle hint of flavor. Stuff the chicken breasts up to a day ahead, refrigerate, and cook them just before guests arrive. Garnish each plate with a rosemary sprig.


1 whole garlic head
1/3 cup (3 ounces) goat cheese with herbs, softened (I used feta with chopped sage)
6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I used cayenne pepper and added garlic powder to season)
2 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°.
Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap head in foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins. Combine garlic pulp and cheese, stirring well; set aside.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff about 4 teaspoons cheese mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle chicken evenly on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken over. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°; let stand 5 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed chicken breast half)

CALORIES 238 (31% from fat); FAT 8.1g (sat 3.3g,mono 2.9g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 37.3g; CHOLESTEROL 101mg; CALCIUM 46mg; SODIUM 292mg; FIBER 0.2g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 1.9g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2007