Pesto and Taleggio Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes
Pesto and Taleggio Chicken with roasted tomatoes is one of my favourites for a crowd pleasing lunch. It can be prepped in about 10 minutes, with virtually no mess, pan frying or fiddly work. Bang it in the oven, and in under an hour, delicious food, fancy enough for a party is ready to serve. Perfect!
This is a Mary Berry recipe from her Cook Up A Feast collection. I have barely changed a thing – I’m sharing because of the sheer ease of making this dish, and the fact that you can make ahead, and just throw in the oven before you serve. I rarely serve it without being asked for the recipe by someone. The combination of taleggio and pesto is nothing short of genius!
Ingredients (For 4 – scale up accordingly)
- 4 skinless medium sized chicken breasts
- 125g Taleggio cheese grated roughly, or crumbled into pieces.
- 2 tablespoons pesto (you can make your own or cheat and buy fresh). I cheated.
- 2 tablespoons of full fat cream cheese
- 1.5 tablespoons of roughly chopped basil
- 35g fresh breadcrumbs
- An optional scattering of pine nuts.
- 300g cherry tomatoes on the vine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Method
Arrange the chicken in an over proof dish, and season. Grate the taleggio, or break into small pieces, and mix with the cream cheese and pesto. Arrange on the top of each chicken breast.
Cover the cheese and pesto mix with breadcrumbs. optionally, sprinkle a few pine nuts on the top. If you are making this in advance, stick in the fridge at this stage until ready to use.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade, and bake the chicken with cheese and breadcrumbs for for 20 mins. The exact cooking time will depend upon the size of your chicken breasts.
About 10 minutes before fully cooked, add tomatoes oil and vinegar, and bake for the remaining 10 minutes.
Serve with crusty bread and salad.