Description
This pan-seared chicken Caprese with roasted tomatoes and fresh basil is a super easy and healthy gourmet meal.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the roasted tomatoes:
- 4 medium to large tomatoes
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For the chicken:
- 2 boneless breasts of chicken (sliced in half so 4 pieces total)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil for cooking
- 1 cup fresh basil (cut in strips/chiffonade style)
- 8 small slices of mozzarella cheese
- 4 teaspoons of pesto (more or less if you want)
- 1-2 tablespoons bottled balsamic glaze
NOTE: The roasted tomatoes only take a few minutes to prep. The one hour cook time is added to the total time of this recipe.
Instructions
- Roast the tomatoes first. You can do this the day before if you like. Core the tomatoes with a coring tool or paring knife. Cut tomatoes in half. Scoop out the guts/seeds – have a bowl to empty them into. Place tomatoes side by side in a 9x13 baking dish. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour. My video shows this well. Once cooled, transfer to a plate or container. You can refrigerate overnight if making the day ahead.
- Trim any fat from around the edges of the boneless breast of chicken.
- Slice the chicken in half vertically like you are butterflying it, but make the cut all the way through. This will give you four pieces of chicken. Season lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Set chicken aside while finishing the prep.
- For the basil. Stack the basil leaves on top of each other, as many as you can (10-15). Roll the leaves up like a cigar. Slice into thin strips/ribbons. Repeat the process until you have one cup of basil. My video shows this well.
- Cut the mozzarella cheese. I used a large block of mozzarella cheese but you can use the fresh white rounds or sliced mozzarella from the deli. If using sliced from the deli, probably just one slice per piece of chicken is fine. I sliced two thin rectangle slices from the block of cheese to place on top of each piece of chicken.
- Have the pesto, sliced mozzarella and roasted tomatoes ready to go when it’s time to cook the chicken.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium/high heat until it’s hot. Add the chicken to the pan and let it cook for 3-4 minutes without touching it. The goal is to get a nice sear on the chicken.
- Turn the chicken over, then put the lid on the chicken and cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove the lid and carefully, with a spoon, spread pesto on top of chicken. Place the cheese slices on top of the pesto. Place two tomato slices on top of the cheese.
- Turn heat down a little and put the lid on the pan. Let the cheese melt for two minutes then take chicken off the heat. Let it rest a couple of minutes before serving.
- Set up the chicken on a small serving platter or plate individually – your choice. Then drizzle the balsamic glaze on top of the chicken. Add a pinch of the fresh basil to the top of each piece of chicken.
- Garnish the platter with sliced cherry tomatoes if you want and any extra basil. You can serve with salad greens, a small portion of pasta with olive oil and garlic or steamed veggies. Enjoy!
Notes
- It was a little hard to give the cook time on this one because tomatoes are one part of the cook time and cooking the chicken is another part of the cook time. The tomatoes take only a few minutes to prep,b ut do take one hour to cook. They are soooooo worth it and you can do the day before which is what I usually do.