Cheesy Bruschetta Chicken
Cheesy chicken with the most irresistible bruschetta topping!
Servings: 4
Cost: £2.50 / $3
Equipment
- Large Oven-Safe Pan & Tongs
- Medium Sized Mixing Bowl & Spatula
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Fine Cheese Grater (for parmesan)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2x 250g / 9oz Chicken Breasts, brought close to room temp
- 125g / 4oz Fresh Mozzarella, thinly sliced (see notes)
- 30g / 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 tsp EACH: Salt, Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
Topping
- 300g / 10.5oz Tomatoes, finely diced (see notes)
- 1/2 small bunch of Fresh Basil, finely diced (15g/0.5oz)
- 1/2 small Red Onion, finely diced
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
- Balsamic Glaze, to preference
Instructions
- Add all of the 'Topping' ingredients (besides the balsamic glaze) to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir until well combined then place to one side.
- Preheat the grill to HIGH.
- Horizontally slice each chicken breast right through the centre to create 4 even-sized breasts. Season both sides with salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
- Add olive oil to a large oven-safe pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and fry for a few minutes until light golden, then flip them over. Top with mozzarella & parmesan and continue frying for another few minutes until golden on the other side and the chicken is just about cooked through the centre.
- Place the pan under the grill to finish melting the cheese, then remove and rest the chicken for a few minutes.
- Spoon over the topping, then drizzle over your preferred amount of balsamic glaze. Serve up and enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) Mozzarella - I highly recommend using fresh mozzarella and preferably low moisture too. If you've only got mozzarella stored in a brine just use kitchen paper to remove as much moisture from the mozzarella as possible.
b) Tomatoes - If you've got the time and patience, I recommend using baby plum tomatoes. They don't turn as watery as larger varieties of tomatoes. In reality though you can use any type of fresh/ripe tomatoes.
c) Topping - The longer the topping sits, the more the salt draws out moisture from the tomatoes. You could make it ahead of time, but I recommend leaving out the salt until just before serving. Just tightly store in the fridge overnight then bring to room temp before serving (just so you don't have fridge-cold tomatoes on hot chicken).
d) Serving - Here I've served with a side salad and Garlic Bread. I highly recommend some form of bread, just to mop up all those lovely juices from the topping!
e) Calories - Whole recipe divided by 4 with no sides assuming 4 tsp balsamic glaze total.
Nutrition
Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 6.93g | Protein: 38.17g | Fat: 19.29g | Saturated Fat: 6.93g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.664g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8.405g | Trans Fat: 0.078g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 830mg | Potassium: 671mg | Fiber: 1.2g | Sugar: 3.49g | Vitamin A: 1129IU | Vitamin C: 11.6mg | Calcium: 247mg | Iron: 1.11mg