Italian Stuffed Chicken with Lemon Butter Linguini {RECIPE}

I DID IT...I created a recipe, ALL BY MYSELF

I had some ideas of how to do it, I've tried stuffed chicken recipes and have found them to dry out the chicken, or be too bready

this recipe has NO bread or breadcrumbs in the stuffing, just cheese, prosciutto, and herbs

this recipe is now an ultimate favorite of mine. delicious, flavorful, and filling

hubs-to-be absolutely L.O.V.E.D. it. which means that its a keeper

since printing out recipes for my recipe binders, i've cooked recipes and have hubs-to-be tell me if they're keepers or toss-outs, so far only 1 toss out {thank goodness}


I hope ya'll enjoy this as much as we did...I gloated all night about this recipe. it was the first one I've ever made up all on my own. I'm sure its out there somewhere else, but for me, I didn't look it up, or stumble upon it. I just created

Mozzarella & Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, butterflied & cut
1 roll of prosciutto, mozzarella & basil
2 tablespoons of minced basil, dried
2 teaspoons of minced oregano, dried
2 teaspoons of paprika
4 tablespoons of olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper to taste
20 or more toothpicks

Directions
Preheat oven to 400. In a small glass pan or casserole dish, place 2 tbsps of olive oil in the pan. Set pan aside.
Take chicken breasts and cut them butterflied. Then cut the butterfly down the middle, making 2 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 tbsp of basil, and 1 tsp oregano and paprika on top of the mozz slices on the chicken.
Roll chicken up keeping the mozz 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 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 & paprika on top of the chicken rolls. Squeeze the 1/2 lemon over the chicken rolls, no seeds.
Cook for 20 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown on the sides.
Pull chicken out and turn your oven to broil
After the chicken is fully cooked, top with the remaining slices of mozz 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

Lemon Butter Linguini

1/2 package of Linguini noodles
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (i used a parmesan romano combo)
1/2 stick of butter
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano

Cook Linguini according to package. Drain. Rinse with cold water.
Put back in the pot or into a bowl. Add butter, cheese, and lemon juice. Mix well.
Serve.


Here are some pictures of the process!

 this is the mozzarella, prosciutto & basil roll that I use the most often

 the prosciutto tends to tear when cut...hence the hack job on my slices, lol

chicken with the slices, herbs and spices

 rolled up in the pan {tip: DONT use colored toothpicks unless you want colored chicken, some of our chicken turned blueish-green after cooked in certain spots, lol...}

 rolled up with the oil, spices and herbs

 fresh out of the oven...yummy

 after the cheese roll has been broiled and melted

 lemon butter linguini

hubs-to-be after our dinner...stuffed

stay tuned for what we had for dessert that night...