Stuffed chicken with mozzarella and herbs

Chicken stuffed with Irish mozzarella. Photograph: Aidan Crawley
Chicken stuffed with Irish mozzarella. Photograph: Aidan Crawley
Serves: 4
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 0 hr 40 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 4-8 anchovy fillets
  • 1-2 tsp capers
  • 200g mozzarella, diced (approx 2 balls)
  • 4 skinless chicken breasts
  • Few sprigs thyme
  • 80g breadcrumbs
  • Small bunch parsley, finely chopped
  • 40g Parmesan, finely grated
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • Big knob butter

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/gas 4. First, make the stuffing. Mix the garlic, anchovy, capers and mozzarella in a bowl. Mush it and squish it with spoon or fork until you have a rustic looking mixture.

Then, get a gratin dish out that will fit all four chicken breasts. Slit each chicken breast, horizontally, put it in the gratin dish and then stuff each slit with a quarter of the stuffing mixture. You can secure them closed with toothpicks and then put them into the fridge and chill them down until you want to cook them.

When you are ready to cook, mix the breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme and Parmesan together and season well. Take each chicken breast, dip it in egg and then pat or dip into the breadcrumbs and put back in the gratin dish. Drizzle the oil on top of the chicken, dot with butter and bake for at least 40 minutes until they are golden brown. If you have chilled the chicken down enough, the topping will go crunchy and the chicken won’t be overcooked.

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a chef and food writer