Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta & Roasted Red Pepper

Once again, our local supermarket was having a special on boneless, skinless chicken breast. Chicken breast is a versatile centerpiece for a meal. Yet it can also be boring to prepare it the same way time after time. It can also be boring to have only four or five different ways to prepare it.

So I looked on this chicken breast special as an opportunity to experiment. I scanned the refrigerator for some inspiration. We had some ricotta cheese leftover from a previous dinner. And there was a jar of roasted red peppers. What if I combined these three ingredients to create a brand new recipe?

It turned out to be delicious!

Serves 4

½ cup ricotta cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2/3 cup roasted red pepper (from a jar, preferably with the pepper packed in olive oil)
½ cup Italian-style bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place the ricotta cheese in a mesh strainer and drain.

Meanwhile, trim the fat from the chicken. Put a 1 ½ foot-long piece of plastic wrap on the counter and place one chicken breast on the plastic wrap, four to five inches from the edge. Fold the remaining plastic wrap over the chicken. Using a kitchen mallet or rolling pin, pound out the chicken till it is about 1/4 -inch thick. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

In a small bowl, combine the drained ricotta cheese, salt and pepper.

Top each chicken breast half with approximately ¼ of the cheese mixture and spread evenly. Place approximately ¼ of the red peppers on one end of each chicken breast half. Then, starting at the end with the pepper, roll the chicken. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Sprinkle each chicken roll with breadcrumbs to lightly coat. Place each roll seam side down in a baking dish. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.