Pizza Stuffed Chicken

Only a pizza fanatic can understand what is it like to crave for a pizza every now and then. Yes, the struggle is for real!! If you wake me up in the middle of the night and offer me a pizza and you hear a ‘No’ then run (1. I will never say no to a pizza. 2. You just disturbed that person in the middle of night who was sleeping peacefully, who also refused a pizza. 3. You never know what that person can do to you, so run and be safe)

I love pizza, well who doesn’t? I am up for a pizza anytime anywhere, but unfortunately  (may be fortunately) its been a while since we have been trying to change lifestyle by eating right. Since we are trying really hard to eat ‘healthy’ (especially me), I had to come up with some healthy alternatives to appease unhealthy cravings. I came across this amazing alternative of traditional pizza; a Pizza stuffed chicken. Surely, this recipe will not let you down rather pump your taste bud in sha Allah.

To most, the words ‘pizza and healthy’ can never come together because the moment we think of pizza the first thing that come to our mind is cheese. Cheese has been always misbelieved to be unhealthy for its higher content of fat, but the new studies show that cheese is not that bad actually, studies say its not natural fat that’s actually bad for our body (if consumed within the limit) rather carb which is the culprit, having said that, we never know what the next studies would come up with so lets not go deep into this and for now lets just enjoy this carb-free ‘Pizza Stuffed Chicken’ before the next new research shows up. Well we cant stop the wavering researches and neither can we stop eating pizzas…

So lets just cut this crap – oh I mean carb!! and dig in this Pizza Stuffed Chicken!!

Ingredients

• 2 Skinless Chicken Breasts, Butterflied* and pounded thin
• 1 cup Home-made Pizza Sauce, divided
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• ¾ Cup Mozzarella Cheese, divided
• Salt, to taste
• 1 tbsp Freshly chopped Basils

 

*Three-step guide to butterflying chicken breasts

Step one:

Put your chicken breast on a chopping board and, with your hand flat on top of it, use a sharp knife to slice into one side of the breast, starting at the thicker end and ending at the thin point. Be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side.

Step two:

Open out the breast so that it resembles a butterfly.

Step three:

Cover with cling film and pummel with a rolling pin to create an even thickness. You can now marinate or cook straight away.

 

 

Source:  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-butterfly-chicken-breasts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper on baking tray and spray with oil. Set aside.
2. Lay the pounded chicken breasts on a work surface, season with salt and spread about 2tbsp of the pizza sauce on the top of chicken, followed by cheese and sprinkle dash of chopped basil. Carefully roll up the filled breast and if necessary, secure the chicken rolls with toothpicks. Repeat this process for the remaining chicken breasts.
3. Now place the rolled chicken breasts on the baking tray.
4. Pour the remaining pizza sauce over the top of the chicken, top it up with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake for about 25-35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
6. Allow to cool for a few minutes after baking. Remove the toothpicks (if used), garnish with dash of basil leaves and italian seasoning and then slice in half or into thinner spirals, and serve.