Stuffed Chicken Breast

I first learnt the basics of this dish from one of my Mum's healthier cookery books. Over the years I have modified this dish so much that it no longer resembles the original recipe (in other words it has got more calories in it). This dish is also special to me as it was the first time I taught my girlfriend that chicken doesn't need to be cooked until it is as dry as the Sahara Desert.

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Cream Cheese and jalapeños

Recently I have started entering 10k and Half Marathons and in the week leading up to each race I eat a very lean diet. To make boring old chicken breasts more interesting I have gone back to the healthy basics of this dish and it still tastes pretty amazing!

Ingredients

1 Large Chicken Breast

2 Rashers of Smokey Bacon

30g Garlic and Chive Cream Cheese (light)

1 tbsp Red Pesto

5 Slices of Jalapeño (diced)

1. Preheat oven to 180'C
2. Mix together the Cream Cheese, Red Pesto and diced Jalapeños
3. Carefully slice into the chicken breast making sure not to cut all the way through. It should look like a little pouch in the chicken.
4. Fill the breast with the filling
5. Lie the rashers of bacon flat on a chopping board overlapping slightly and place the chicken breast at one end. Wrap the bacon round and tuck underneath the chicken.
6. Place on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes. There is no need to bake the chicken for more than this otherwise it will be dry and no one likes dry chicken.
7. Always rest the chicken under tin foil for 5 minutes when it comes out of the oven as this will help to retain the juices and make it extra tender.

Bon Appetite!