Baked Stuffed Chicken

So I haven't been cooking or baking much lately, largely due to the devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, OK on May 20th.  I live about 10 minutes away from the tornado, in fact I was supposed to be at the bowling alley that no longer exists three hours after the tornado hit.  So naturally, I did what any normal person would do and spent all of my free time volunteering, helping out with the clean-up efforts.  Now, they're using the heavy equipment to clear away the trash from the streets, so I'm staying out of the way and rewarding myself with a nice, "fancy" cooked meal.

Tonight's gourmet dinner (gourmet in comparison to my usual meals of late: toast and pizza haha) is baked chicken stuffed with mozzarella and pesto.  I laid out thin chicken breasts.

Then I spread a fine layer of pesto and mozzarella cheese on top, and rolled them up.  

I dipped them into a beat egg and bread crumbs before putting them into a casserole dish.  Finally I topped the dish with parmesan cheese and let it bake for 25 minutes at 375 F.  Here is the finished product:

It tasted fantastic :)  Could be served with a nice vegetable or salad, and pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes!  This could also be an upscaled chicken parmesan recipe if you throw some sliced tomatoes and fresh basil into the casserole dish before placing it into the oven.

Baked Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 large chicken breasts, flattened
• 1-2 tbsp pesto sauce
• 1-2 tbsp mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 c bread crumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Trim the chicken breasts of any fat and flatten them with a meat mallet.
3. Spread a layer of pesto across the top of each flattened breast.  Then sprinkle a fine layer of mozzarella cheese on top of the pesto.
4. Fold the chicken breast over in half.
5. Dip the chicken breast into the beat egg, then dip into the bread crumbs.  Place into greased casserole dish.
6. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the chicken breasts.
7. Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Serve hot and enjoy.

Inspiration from: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2005/04/chicken-stuffed-with-pesto-and-cheese.html?m=1