Creamy pesto chicken with roasted tomatoes

A fast and filling, all-in-one chicken dish

Recipe uploaded by

Emma Lewis

162 ratings 5

Recipe by Emma Lewis

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - 3 issues for £3

Tested

Difficulty and servings

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 15 mins

Cook 25 mins

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Use a small sharp knife to make a slit along the side of each chicken breast to form a pocket. Mix together the pesto and mascarpone, then carefully spoon a quarter of the mixture into each chicken breast and smooth over the opening to seal.
Brush a little oil, about 1 tsp, all over each chicken breast and season well. Tip the breadcrumbs onto a large plate and season. Place each breast on the plate and press all over with the breadcrumbs. Place in a lightly oiled shallow baking dish along with the tomatoes (kept together on the vine in a couple of bunches). Drizzle over the remaining oil.
Cook in the oven for 20-25 mins until the chicken starts to turn golden and is cooked through. Scatter over the pine nuts and cook for 2 mins more. Sprinkle with basil leaves and serve with new potatoes or crusty bread.

HOMEMADE PESTO

In a small food processor, whizz together a large handful basil leaves (about 40g), 25g toasted pine nuts, 25g finely grated Parmesan, 1 crushed garlic clove and 3 tbsp olive oil. Keep in the fridge for 1-2 days or cover with a layer of oil and keep for 3-4 days.

PER SERVING

545 kcalories, protein 40g, carbohydrate 22g, fat 33 g, saturated fat 10g, fibre 1g, sugar 3g, salt 0.82 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2009.

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-40

shelley

19 May 2009

shelley rated and commented on this recipe

just had this dish now and was really tasty - as expected! went down very well with french beans and roast potatoes, also nice and saucy with the mascarpone and pesto. my fourth recipe from this website and still very happy!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Naomi

20 May 2009

Naomi commented on this recipe

I've made this several times, using mascarpone or substituting with phillie and it never disappoints. I've also substituted the chicken with salmon and would highly recommend it for a wonderful melt in your mouth alternative.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
MrsB

20 May 2009

MrsB commented on this recipe

Made this exactly as stated and loved it. It looks beautiful when completed and was a pleasure to make and delicious to eat.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
tanyah

27 May 2009

tanyah rated and commented on this recipe

So easy to make, and can be made in advance - perfect for entertaining. Looks great, tastes great. I have used a variety of breadcrumbs but I actually prefer waitrose own 'cooks ingredients' breadcrumbs to fresh. Gives it more of a crunch and looks better. Always got to have the tomatoes too as it really does cut through the creaminess.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
sarah's den

28 May 2009

sarah's den rated and commented on this recipe

my daughter made this first from your good food book, which I also have posted to me every month then my husband wanted me to make it for him. It was a real tasty dish very easy to make , also you eat it with your eyes as it was so colourful

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
chengi

31 May 2009

chengi commented on this recipe

Very easy and impressive too ! Substituted with hung yoghurt and chopped sundried tomatoes and black olives coz i didnt have the pesto ! Twas good !

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Lucy

02 June 2009

Lucy rated and commented on this recipe

Beautiful. Restaurant quality food. Will use the pesto for many other things too. Can't wait to try this with salmon.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Jenny Buse

04 June 2009

Jenny Buse rated and commented on this recipe

This is delicious but so much better with homemade pesto!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Clarinda

05 June 2009

Clarinda rated and commented on this recipe

Very moist chicken, home-made pesto gave it extra taste. Didn't have enough tomatoes so used courgette as well. Really good and cd serve to guests with pleasure.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Alison

05 June 2009

Alison rated and commented on this recipe

Everyone in the family loved this. My 6 year old thinks its the best dinner in the whole world!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
PoshPaws

06 June 2009

PoshPaws rated and commented on this recipe

Great recipe! Both son and hubby were dubious about idea of "green chicken" (both are green food doubters) but both decreed it was delicious and would have it again. Used shop-bought Pesto and served with buttered Jersey New potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Amazingly, everyone ate every little bit. I like the idea of adding more mascarpone to the juices to create a sauce - will try that next time!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Lindsay Rault

08 June 2009

Lindsay Rault rated and commented on this recipe

So simple and quick to make, don't need many ingrediants. This was lovely, made a nice pasta dish with the leftover pesto and mascarpone.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Jane

09 June 2009

Jane rated this recipe

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Cliff

09 June 2009

Cliff commented on this recipe

Followed the recipe exactly using the ingredients as described and have been really pleased with the results.Delicious!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
gill

10 June 2009

gill commented on this recipe

This was very easy to make and the whole family loved it. Certainly nice enough for dinner party main course. The roasted tomatoes, to which I added some balsamic vinegar were a fantastic side to it. Will become a regular favourite.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Liezel

10 June 2009

Liezel rated and commented on this recipe

This was nice, but not great. I got nervous that the breadcrumbs would be messy, based on the comments, so I went the parma ham route. It was a bit dry, so next time I will try the breadcrumbs. This sounds nice, so I will try it again just to see

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
susan

10 June 2009

susan rated and commented on this recipe

Absolutely delicious. Used Parma Ham instead of breadcrumbs and threw in a few chopped sun dried toms into the mascarpone mix. We had friends around for dinner on Fri last and it was a huge success.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Sandy

12 June 2009

Sandy rated this recipe

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Alannah

12 June 2009

Alannah commented on this recipe

I used shop bought, finest pesto but this was still delicious!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Kate

14 June 2009

Kate rated and commented on this recipe

Absolutely gorgeous and really easy to make.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason: