These chicken breasts are stuffed with antipasto...cheese, artichokes and olives...and not only tasty, but easy too. Thanks to the NoshOn.It Publisher Partner Program for sponsoring this post and helping me to share this recipe with you.
Every year when I was a kid, we went to our friends' Christmas Eve party. My friend and I spent the evening sneaking between the downstairs playroom and her room, dodging the adults in the kitchen as we check on the status of the best ever sticky chicken wings.
While we waited for the star of the show, we snacked on what I would now describe as antipasti, but as a kid I just knew it as plates and plates of cheese, salami and olives. In Italian, "antipasto" means "before the meal" and traditionally includes cured meats, cheeses (such as Provolone), artichoke hearts, olives, mushrooms and other savory morsels. Quite honestly, I could eat like that for every meal...little bits and bites of different tastes.
Stuffing chicken breasts is a great way to take them from boring to beautiful with very little effort, and stuffing them with antipasto is a way to make them completely irresistible. They look too fancy to be easy, don't they? But I promise that you will be able to pull this off, either for entertaining or for a weekday meal. Truly.
For other stuffed chicken breasts, try Grilled Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken Breasts and Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes.
This chicken dish is only as good as the filling, so it makes sense to use the sweetest tomatoes, the briniest olives and the most flavorful Provolone cheese.
I'm a Costco shopper through and through. I can actually tell you the names of the staff at the door, as well as several of the cashiers. And please tell me that I'm not the only one that can NEVER walk out of Costco without spending at least $100. My family also happens to be cheese lovers...in sandwiches, in casseroles and for snacking. So, I was excited to see the double packs of BelGioioso Provolone in the Costco cheese section. I've seen it in regular grocery stores, too, but in the single packs.
This is actually my favorite Provolone cheese because even though it's a mild cheese, BelGioioso has plenty of flavor because it's aged for 60 days before shipping. The packages are also those handy-dandy resealable ones so that you can just peel back the plastic, pull out a few slices of cheese and then press to reseal.
If you find that your filling is falling out of the chicken breasts, use a few toothpicks to hold the pockets together. Just be sure to remove the toothpicks before cutting and serving the chicken. This is coming from someone who has bitten into a toothpick more than once. Not fun.
If you're like me, you might want to make a little extra filling because you're bound to be tempted to eat a few spoonfuls before filling the chicken breasts. It's too good to resist!
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Antipasto Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipe
Ingredients
The Filling:
- 1 artichoke canned in water chopped (¼ cup)
- ¼ cup chopped tomato
- 1 ounce 1 slice BelGioioso Provolone cheese, chopped
- 1 ounce kalamata olives chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
- ground pepper to taste
The Chicken:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (5 ounces each)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
The Filling:
- In a medium bowl, stir together the artichoke, tomato, Provolone cheese, olives, garlic and parsley. Season with pepper, to taste.
The Chicken:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Insert a knife into the thickest part of each chicken breast and cut a pocket 2 to 3 inches long.
- Rub the chicken breasts with the olive oil and season with the salt and pepper.
- Stuff each chicken breast with ¼ of the filling.
- Heat a large nonstick, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.
- Place the skillet in the oven and bake until the chicken is just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post was sponsored via the NoshOn.It Publisher Partner Program by BelGioioso Cheese. All opinions are my own. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Amanda West
I loved the flavor of this stuffing. Thanks for the recipe. I'm planning to make this again very soon!
Faith (An Edible Mosaic)
What a gorgeous meal! That filling looks like it's just bursting with flavor...I will be on the lookout for that cheese!
fabiola@notjustbaked
I can only imagine how good these are, they look juicy and amazing! Stuffing chicken makes for better chicken.
Colleen+(Souffle+Bombay)
Oh, this is brilliant! I am so into this idea and need to make it as soon as possible!
Amanda @ The Kitcheneer
You are making me hungry! This chicken breast looks delicious!