Making a pocket in the chicken breast to hold the stuffing is easy with a good, sharp, thin-bladed knife. Browning the chicken in a skillet before baking gives it a beautiful golden color, and finishing in the oven ensures that it cooks evenly throughout.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup grated swiss, monterey jack or part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped ham
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (1-1 1/4 pounds total)
- 1 egg white
- ½ cup plain dry breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Use a baking sheet with sides and lightly coat it with cooking spray.
- Mix cheese, ham, mustard and pepper in a small bowl.
- Cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of a chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Open up the breast and place one-fourth of the filling in the center. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and filling.
- Lightly beat egg white with a fork in a medium bowl. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow glass dish. Hold each chicken breast half together and dip in egg white, then dredge in breadcrumbs. (Discard leftovers.)
- Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts; cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Place the chicken, browned-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center or until an instant-read thermometer registers 170 degrees F, about 20 minutes.