Cheesy Basil-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

We made the most scrumptious dinner tonight: Cheesy Basil-Stuffed Chicken Breasts. As Brian said, "Anything called 'cheesy' and 'basil' has got to be good." He was right. This is definitely the next recipe I'll make for company or for our meal exchange. You can prepare it ahead in a baking dish, and just put it in the oven when you're ready to cook it.

I'd like to try freezing it, but am concerned about the mayonnaise which coats the chicken. I'm not too sure that would do well. But, it's worth a try.*

I found the recipe by browsing through my "Recipes to Make" book. I was looking for something that called for fresh basil, which is now at its peak. This recipe jumped out at me, as it also called for cherry tomatoes, which are ripening faster than we can eat them. (Another added bonus, is that we'd just made home-made pizza the other night, so I already had shredded mozzarella.)

*11/10/08: Just before our first fall freeze, I harvested the rest of the basil and made a few batches of this for the freezer. I used the mayo and bread crumb mixture and then placed them in a single layer in a jelly roll pan to flash freeze. Once they were frozen, I put two in a FoodSaver bag and vacuum packed them for later. Last week we tried the frozen ones for the first time and they were just as good! The mayo, which is used as an adhesive for the bread crumbs was just fine. I didn't have any cherry tomatoes on hand, so I chopped up some plum tomatoes instead. That worked just fine.

Cheesy Basil-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
(Cook's Illustrated)

Serves 4

Get out three medium bowls, and place the following ingredients into each one:

Bowl One:
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
2 TB freshly torn basil
2 TB heavy cream
1 TB fresh lemon juice
2 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste (I just sprinkled some on.)

Bowl Two:
1 C fresh bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 TB freshly torn basil
1 TB extra virgin olive oil

Bowl Three:
1 pint cherry tomatoes , halved
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste (Again, I just sprinkled some on.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice a pocket in
4 chicken breasts (don't use thin ones)

Stuff the breasts with cheese mixture, and seal with a toothpick or small skewer.

Spread mayonnaise on the outside of the breasts and dip in the bread mixture, coating the chicken pieces. Press lightly to adhere.

Place in a baking dish, and arrange the tomato mixture around the chicken.

Bake until crumbs are golden brown and thickest part of chicken registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 25 minutes. Serve.