Some recipes are born of desperation; this is what’s in the house, we need dinner, how can I make it work? Some are born of creativity; hey I bet this would be really good! Still others come from trying to use up certain ingredients; why did I buy SO MUCH cheese?!? This is one of those recipes.
Recently most of the local grocery stores have been putting pasta and pasta sauce on sale; really, really good sales. I’m a sale and coupon shopper, so I’ve stocked up on the pasta and sauce. It’s quick and easy, it has a long shelf life, it was a really great deal, and we like it. That being said, I thought it might be a good idea to try something a little different with it before we get tired of it.
Boneless, skinless chicken breast has also been on sale, so there’s quite a bit of that in the freezer right now. We also have A LOT of cheese right now because I shouldn’t be allowed in the cheese section at Sam’s Club without adult supervision. I really like cheese, and I like buying in bulk. I went to buy cheese for lasagna when my in-laws were coming for dinner and somehow I ended up leaving with enough cheese to make lasagna for about 147 people. I don’t have that many in-laws, so we had a lot of cheese left over, hence the need for a recipe involving cheese, chicken, pasta, and sauce. So here it is (it’s quite delicious, if I may say so myself):
Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken:
4 thick slices fresh Mozzarella Cheese
1 onion, thinly sliced (I used half a red onion, and half a yellow onion, because that’s what was in the refrigerator needing to be used up)
½ orange or red bell pepper, thinly sliced
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning
¼ cup butter, melted
1/3 cup dry white wine (I imagine you can use chicken broth instead, but it’s really good with the wine)
1 box of pasta
2 small jars pasta sauce
Trim fat from chicken breasts and pound them out flat. Roll one slice of the Mozzarella cheese, ¼ of the onion and pepper, and a sprinkle of garlic powder and Italian Seasoning in each chicken breast. Place them in a baking dish, open side up. Pour the wine and melted butter over them, then sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian Seasoning. Cover, and bake at 350° for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until chicken is done.
Serve over pasta cooked according to package directions, with warm sauce.
Enjoy!