Cheesy Chorizo Hasselback Chicken
This Chorizo Hasselback Chicken is wrapped in cheese and baked in a rich tomato sauce.
Servings: 4
Cost: £3 / $3.50
Equipment
- 12" Cast Iron Skillet & Wooden Spoon (or regular pan and large baking dish)
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Medium Sized Mixing Bowl & Spatula (for side dish - optional)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4x boneless skinless Chicken Breasts (approx 9oz/250g each)
- 7oz / 200g Mozzarella (preferably fresh & low moisture. Thoroughly pat dry if stored in brine)
- 3.5oz / 100g Chorizo
- 20 Fresh Basil Leaves
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- Olive Oil, as needed
Sauce
- 2x 14oz/400g cans of Chopped Tomatoes
- 4 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1/4 tsp Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp Chilli Flakes, optional for more spice
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper, or to taste
- Olive Oil, as needed
Side Dish (optional)
- ~ 1.5 cups Cooked Long Grain Rice
- ~ 1/3 cup Pesto, or to preference
- 2 tbsp Pine Nuts
- handful of Rocket/Arugula
- sprinkle of Small Basil Leaves
Instructions
- Add garlic to a drizzle of oil in a large oven-safe pan over medium heat. Fry for a couple of mins, then add chopped tomatoes, oregano, sugar, salt, pepper and chilli flakes (optional). Simmer over low-medium for 20-25mins, or until very thick. Pre-heat oven to 200C/390F
- Meanwhile, divide the mozzarella in two. Slice or grate one half to top the chicken, then slice the other half into 20 thin wedges around the same width as the chicken. Slice the chorizo into 20 thin wedges.
- Make 5 slices into each breast with an even distance apart, slicing around 3/4 of the way down. Season all over with salt and pepper. Wedge a basil leaf into each gap, then add the chorizo and mozzarella.
- Once the sauce is thick (should just about cover the base of the pan) add the chicken on top. Drizzle with oil then place in the oven for 15mins. Remove, top with cheese and continue baking for another 10mins, or until the cheese starts to bubble and the chicken is piping hot and white through the centre. If making the side dish combine everything in a bowl at this point.
- Remove chicken and rest to one side, then quickly stir the sauce to emulsify the chorizo fat with the tomato sauce (can rapidly simmer to thicken more if needed).
- Serve chicken on top of sauce then tuck in and enjoy.
Video
Notes
a) Sauce Consistency - You want the sauce nice and thick, almost the work as just a buffer between the pan and chicken, not to drown the chicken. The reason being the chorizo will leak out a lot of oil, and the chicken will release moisture too. We want to bake the chicken, and all the moisture could end up boiling it if you're sauce is super thin/watery!
b) Cheese - I like mozzarella for its subtle creamy flavour, which counteracts the spicy, salty chorizo & sauce. I'd try it as is the first time around, then you could experiment with other cheeses (taleggio and brie work well because they're both creamy).
c) Baking Dish - If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, just make the sauce in a regular pan then spread it in a large baking dish and top with chicken.
d) Calories - Based on the recipe without a side dish assuming 1.5 tbsp olive oil is used.
Nutrition
Calories: 646kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.05g | Protein: 75.11g | Fat: 32.75g | Saturated Fat: 12.278g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.054g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13.335g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 244mg | Sodium: 1395mg | Potassium: 1376mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5.91g | Vitamin A: 1343IU | Vitamin C: 26.4mg | Calcium: 344mg | Iron: 2.91mg