Italian Stuffed Chicken

I cook chicken a lot, especially boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  I am always looking for new ways to prepare it.  This idea came to me while I was shopping.  I saw some sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese next to each other in my buggy and inspiration struck!  Stuff chicken breasts with a mixture of Italian flavors.  I tried it and it worked.  These were delicious!  Plus, they look impressive.  You could definitely make them for a dinner party.  No one needs to know how easy they are to make.

ITALIAN STUFFED CHICKEN

6 small or 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 TBS minced sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 TBS chopped fresh parsley (never use dried parsley, yuck!)
2 TBS olive oil (plus more to drizzle on chicken)
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix together the sun dried tomatoes, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley and olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste (easy on the salt, the cheese is very salty).  Set aside.

Cut a pocket in the side of each chicken breast:

Don't cut all the way through, just enough to form a pocket to stuff.

Spoon some stuffing into each pocket.

Use a toothpick to close the pocket.  This keeps the stuffing from coming out during baking.

Drizzle a little oil on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Place stuffed chicken into dish and brush a little olive oil onto each piece of chicken.

Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on each.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Be sure to remove the toothpicks before eating!

These are so flavorful!  They are literally stuffed with bold flavors.  But, they're really easy to make!  Give these a try.  Your friends and family will think you're a culinary wiz.  If only they knew...