ITALIAN STUFFED CHICKEN

ITALIAN STUFFED CHICKEN
1 batch Boursin cheese (see recipe below)
4 small roasted red bell peppers (about 1 1/2 ounces each) *
4 large boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 thin slices tomato (about 3 medium tomatoes) **
Olive oil for drizzling (1/2 tablespoon per breast)
Fresh parsley, chopped, optional

Butterfly the chicken by making a shallow horizontal cut along the thickest long edge of each breast and then run the knife toward the other side stopping within a quarter to half inch of the opposite edge. Cut the red peppers open flat and pat them dry. Place the chicken breasts on a large foil-lined baking sheet. Season them on both sides and then open them up. Lay one pepper on the bottom section of each breast.

Spoon 1/4 of the Boursin cheese on top of each red pepper in a large dollop. There's no need to spread it around because you'll do that when you fold the top flap of the chicken over it. Fold the top flap of each breast up and over the filling, enclosing it as well as you can. Gently press down on the chicken to slightly distribute the cheese filling more evenly but keep the pile of cheese as thick as you can.

Place 3 slices of tomato on top of each breast, overlapping them as shown in the photo. Drizzle the tomatoes with oil then sprinkle with a little salt. You can sprinkle a little chopped fresh parsley over the top for color. Bake at 425?20 minutes or until the chicken is done. The tomatoes will look a bit shriveled.

Makes 4 servings

* You'll need to buy a 12 ounce jar of roasted red peppers but you probably won't need them all.

** I bought three medium tomatoes and got four slices out of each one with a little left over. The tomatoes weighed 15 ounces total before trimming them and I used about 2 1/2 ounces of tomato per chicken breast.

Per Serving: 416 Calories; 28g Fat; 33g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

BOURSIN CHEESE
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon dill
2 teaspoons chives
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

In a food processor, process the cream cheese and garlic until blended. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well combined. Put in an airtight container and chill a couple hours or overnight to allow the flavors to develop. This is a more heat-stable version of my regular Boursin cheese recipe that calls for part butter.

Makes about 1 cup

Per Serving: 805 Calories; 79g Fat; 18g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 8g Net Carbs

I got this recipe from an English cooking magazine that my friend from England gave me when she came to visit. I wasn't able to cut slits in the sides of the chicken breasts as the recipe said to do without them tearing badly so I had to wing it a bit. I ended up with a big hole in the bottoms of all four of mine so I came up with the idea to place a whole roasted pepper over the holes to keep the cheese from oozing out the bottoms. This did increase the carb count a bit.

I did something very stupid so I really don't know how long mine took to bake. I went to check on it after about 10 minutes or so only to find that I'd never turned on the timer. I do think that it took roughly 20-25 minutes based on when I think I put it in the oven. I was pleased to find that not too much of the filling leaked out while baking. Of course you can spoon any of the yummy sauce back over the chicken. I think that next time I might try pounding the chicken until it's very thin and then just fold the chicken in half over the filling and omit the red pepper. I liked the red peppers but I'd like to try this sometime without them. The garlicky cheese filling was my favorite part of the dish and it doesn't need any competition from vegetables. I would keep the tomato slices on top because they help keep the top of the chicken from drying out and they look pretty. Click the photos to see close-ups of the before and after shots. Below is how it looked before baking:

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