What a wonderful weekend. It was sunny, bright and crisp this weekend in Sunny South Florida. A great time to get things in the oven! I kept thinking of an inspiration I saw this week. A "Chicken Roulade" I saw from a Friend's Blog Posting (
Mia's Domain) Please stop by and let her inspire you! She is Fabulous!
I was inspired by her use of "chorizo" with chicken. Portuguese people do this all the time. Although our sausage of choice is "Chourico" (a little texture and spice difference) but the outcomes usually are similar.
I love the thought of those spices as the center for the one note chicken breast, I had in the freezer.
My thoughts though were to make it a little more Italian and maybe a little lighter, in that I didn't want to add another protein to the dish, but wanted to keep the flavor high. My take on the dish is high flavor and high moisture for what can be a doldrum of a protein. Here you have My version of Chicken Roulade
Sundried Tomato Chicken Roulade
Ingredients
1/4 cup Sundried tomatoes
(I use the sundried tomatoes that are chopped and kept in olive oil. If you use simply sundried tomatoes, you might want to take the time to reconstitute them in a 1/2 cup of steeping hot water until they seem plumper and malleable for smashing. Once plump add them to 1/4 cup olive oil. Let stand for 30 mins. Then use as directed here.)
2 Large Yellow Onions (sliced)
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2-3 tbsp Olive Oil from the Sun Dried Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Garlic Chopped.
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup White Wine
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
Directions:
In a Medium Skillet on Med high heat add Olive Oil, Tomatoes and Garlic.
Reduce heat to Medium.
Saute over medium heat until you can work the tomatoes and garlic. Smash them into a paste like consistency. Add the onions and saute until the onions are translucent. Add Salt and Pepper to taste.
Once the mixture is cohesive add the White Wine and scrape the little flavor pockets up off the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is clear on it's bottom add the chicken stock, lower heat to Medium low and simmer for 10 mins Covered.
Set mixture aside to cool. Best result is if you can do this a night before and leave in the fridge until ready to use. You can make a bunch of this Tomato Relish and it can be used on Bruschetta, Pizza Dough, Pasta etc.... Add some fresh basil or Italian parsley, maybe some capers or Italian olives and Wow! Awesome!
Preheat oven to 375°
When ready to add to chicken:
Place chicken breast flat on a cutting board.
Take a sharp (I used a pointy steak knife) and point it straight into the "thick part of the breast". Cut a slit into that part of the breast dont go all the way to the edges, but delve into the meat of the breast, widening an inner "pocket" for your tomato relish. Once you've made a pocket in each breast, spoon your mixture into each breast. fill to capacity!. (About 2 tbsp)
Place each Breast into a Shallow baking dish.
If you have some remaining olive oil from your tomato mixture you can spoon a little over the top of the breast as it sets in the baking pan.
Bake Chicken for approx 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly.
When checking chicken for "doneness" you can spoon any pan drippings over the chicken to add the "flavor" to the chicken on the outside. It also lends to better coloring of the chicken.
When chicken is done, Let rest 5 minutes.
Slice chicken across the width of breast to show the "stuffed" appearance as show in this photo.
Serve over a bed of fresh baby spinach or alongside your favorite pasta!
Enjoy!!!
Weeknight Shrimp & Pasta
