Italian Stuffed Chicken

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a small glass pan or casserole dish, place 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in the pan. Set pan aside.

Take chicken breasts and cut them so that they are butterflied. Then cut the butterfly down the middle, making 2 thin pieces. After this process you will have 4 pieces of chicken breast. Butterflying makes them thinner, instead of beating them to death.

Cut the mozzarella log into 12-14 slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Place 2 slices onto the middle each chicken breast piece. Set the other 4-6 slices aside.

Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of basil, and 1 teaspoon each of oregano and paprika on top of the mozzarella slices on the chicken. Roll chicken up keeping the mozzarella slices towards the bottom of the roll. Close up chicken with toothpicks, about 5 per roll of chicken, use more if needed. Try to close the roll up completely leaving no gaps for the cheese to ooze out.

Place each piece of chicken in the pan on top of the olive oil. Drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the chicken rolls.
Sprinkle the rest of the basil, oregano and paprika on top of the chicken rolls. Squeeze the 1/2 lemon over the chicken rolls, making sure there are no seeds.

Cook for 20 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown on the sides. Then pull chicken out and turn your oven to broil. After the chicken is fully cooked, top with the remaining slices of mozzarella roll and put back in the oven. Broil for 4-5 minutes, once the cheese is melted, you’re done!

This chicken goes extremely well with my Lemon Butter Parmesan Linguini. See my TastyKitchen recipe box for this recipe.