Simple chicken perfection with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil, roasted under crispy skin. This is a dinner that is often requested by all four of my kids, which is a rarity!
This is a classic Barefoot Contessa recipe that I’ve been making for as long as I have cooked. It’s an easy dinner that you can assemble ahead, and roast when you are ready to eat. You can switch up the cheese – I have used Boursin, which gets messy (but delicious!), feta, or even mozzarella. Leave the tomatoes out and sub in some sautéed mushrooms, spinach, or just do the cheese and basil – it’s a great base recipe with lots of variations to work with.
This is another recipe with such few ingredients that the quality really matters – buy the best chicken breasts you can find.
Roast Chicken with Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 boneless chicken breast halves, skin on
- 12 oz herbed or plain goat cheese. sliced into discs
- 12 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, in olive oil, drained
- 1 small bunch of large basil leaves
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, with a rack positioned in the middle of the oven.
- Gently pull the chicken skin up on one side of each breast, and slide in two pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, two discs of goat cheese, and two leaves of basil, stacking and then folding the skin back over the top. You are almost making little chicken presents, stuffed with all these items, and then wrapped in the skin again. Line the chicken gifts up spaced on a baking sheet.
- Drizzle olive oil generously over the top of each chicken breast when stuffed, then sprinkle heavily with salt and pepper - there is a lot to season here, so go for it! Toss the baking sheet in the oven, and roast for 35 minutes, until the chicken registers 165 degrees.
- To serve, simply cut into the chicken and enjoy - this goes great with a simple green salad or any roasted vegetable.
Notes
