I recently had too much pesto on my hands so I tried experimenting with a new stuffed chicken recipe. I always thought rolled or stuffed chicken was difficult to make but this one is very simple. In fact, I made this last night and to prep and cook took 35 minutes.

You can serve it over brown rice or, my favorite, farro with carrots. Farro is a barley-like, ancient Italian grain. I usually purchase it from HomeGoods (or one of their sister stores). The one in the picture below is from Pereg Natural Foods and is their mushroom and rosemary blend.

Start of by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F. This recipe is for cooking for two so if you are cooking for more people double the recipe accordingly.

Hammer out the two chicken breasts to about a half inch. Next, if you are making your pesto add the fresh basil leaves, half cup of pinenuts (or other nut), 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, pepper and shredded Romano Parmesan cheese into a processor or blender. Blend till mostly smooth. Once the pesto is ready mix with a half cup of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream.

Smooth 1-2 tablespoons of pesto onto one side of the flat chicken breast. Then starting at one side, roll up the chicken like a cinnamon roll. Place the rolls on an oven safe dish and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

During that time, make the rice or farro. If you are adding carrots, peel and chop the carrots and then add the carrots in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Also during this time, melt butter on low in a sauce pan. Add two minced garlic cloves and let the butter sizzle with the garlic for about a minute.

Once it starts to slightly get tan, add 1-2 cups of seasoned panko (Japanese bread crumbs).

Stir the panko till it begins to turn golden brown. By this time, the chicken should be at the 15 minute mark. Pull the chicken out and top with the panko then place back in oven for 5-10 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts (I usually get Empires kosher chicken or Bell & Evans)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
3 tablespoons pesto (or you can make your own with ingredients below)
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups seasoned panko
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
farro (I used Pereg’s mushroom and rosemary farro)

Pesto Ingredients:

1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup pinenuts
3 tablespoons Romano parmigiana cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

For more pesto recipes, check out my nutty pesto with asparagus and sweet potato recipe.