Pesto and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Forgive me for not posting too many recipes this week...I have been busy.  Giving my home a bit of a face lift with some new paint and getting rid of some wallpaper. I am not doing the painting myself, we hired someone...but the prep work to ready the rooms, along with wallpaper removal has been keeping me busy.

I remembered, I had pictures of a delicious chicken dish I made last week in my camera, so I decided today would be a great day to post the recipe.  It comes from the WW PointsPlus JUST 5 cookbook, available exclusively at WW meetings.  I have made several dishes from this book since I bought it last week, and so far, haven't been disappointed with anything I have made.  I have to admit to adding a few personal touches to many of the recipes...as sticking to 5 ingredients ONLY is a bit of a challenge for me...lol

This recipe originally called for feta cheese and basil pesto, but I switched the cheese with crumbled goat and used a sun dried tomato pesto instead of the basil pesto, because that is what I had.  I also added a bit of paprika on top of the chicken breasts for color. I didn't have any fresh bail on hand, so I subbed dried, but I think fresh basil would make this dish even more special!   The goat cheese and the sun dried tomato pesto really complimented the chicken nicely.  I will definitely be making this easy dinner again soon!

portion out the filling into 1 TBS bundles and freeze so cheese doesn't leak out while cooking if you have any left over, use it in an omelet the next day...very yummy!

Hanging out in the nonstick pan getting brown

Pesto and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts adapted from WW Just 5 cookbook

Servings - 6   Serving size - 1 stuffed chicken breast   PP per serving - 6 points+

Calories - 236,   Total Fat - 10g,  Carb. - 1g,   Protein - 33g,  Fiber - 1g

6 (5 oz. each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

2 TBS. store bought pesto ( I used sundried tomato pesto) 

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. black pepper

paprika

basil ( fresh or dried)

1.  To make stuffing, combine goat cheese, pesto, garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp black pepper.  Portion out  into six flat mounds, 1 TBS. of mixture per mound,  onto wax paper and on a baking sheet.  Put in freezer for at least 20 minutes. 

2.  Make a pocket inside of each chicken breast by inserting a small paring knife into thickest part and making a small pocket, but do not cut all the way through the breast.  Insert the frozen cheese mixture mounds, one into each pocket and secure with a tooth pick on the open side.  Season breasts with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with paprika.

3. In nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray or with olive oil from misto, brown the breasts on each side, about 6 - 7 minutes per side or until internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees F.  Remove  toothpicks and sprinkle with basil. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE