Mushroom and cheese stuffed chicken breast is a quick and easy chicken recipe for dinner. I used goat ricotta cheese, shiitake mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and lemon to flavor the meat. Chicken breast can be dry, so I marinated the meat and cooked the chicken for only 15 minutes. It’s perhaps more of a roll than a stuffing, but either way, it’s delicious.
My mother-in-law is an absolute creature of habit, and when we plan on cooking chicken, her preference is always poulet roti. Contrary to the stereotype, I love my mother-in-law dearly, so don’t think I’m complaining, but it takes a miracle to get her to try new things. A couple of nights ago, we had some dinner guests and we had to come up with a main course. We had chicken breasts in the house, but no whole chicken. My mother-in-law was ready to go to the market to get a whole chicken, but I was able to convince her to give this recipe a try.
Given the time crunch, she grudgingly gave in and let me prepare the dish. When she tasted it, she asked me why I haven’t made it before! I see a lot of stuffed chicken breasts in my future, and if you try this recipe, I bet you will too!
1. Info for Mushroom and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 6
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Mushroom and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
- 6 chicken breast halves (about 1-½ pounds), boneless and skinless
- 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons papaya paste (see tips)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons walnut oil (or regular oil)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 5 ounces goat ricotta cheese
- 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 1 lemon
- 10 fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/3 cup white wine (or water)
- 4 tablespoons butter, cold
- 4 tablespoons curly parsley
3. Directions:
- Zest and juice the lemon. Set them aside separately.
- Remove the fat around the bottom of the breast if there is any. Wash the chicken breasts and pat them dry using paper towels.
- Season the chicken with salt, cayenne pepper and pepper. Add the garlic, papaya paste and baking powder. Toss well. Place the chicken in a large bowl or a sealable zip-top bag. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of white wine and walnut oil. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- The next day, pat the meat dry one more time using paper towels.
- Transfer one chicken breast at a time onto a cutting board previously lined with a piece of plastic wrap. Place another piece of plastic wrap on top of the chicken like a sandwich. Pound the meat using a meat tenderizer mallet to about ½-inch thick.
- Separate the stems from the shiitake mushrooms. Finely dice the stems and slice the shiitake mushrooms. Set them aside separately.
- In a large non-stick pan, heat about 1 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the shallots and cook on heat high until slightly golden. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook until soft and tender, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the caramelized shallots to a bowl. In the same pan, add the shiitake stems and cook for another 2 minutes. Transfer to the same bowl. Add the goat ricotta cheese, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of curly parsley and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Place one chicken breast on a cutting board. Spread about 1 to 1-½ tablespoons of the goat ricotta cheese filling evenly over the chicken. Carefully roll up the chicken breast tightly. Secure 2 to 3 toothpicks into the stuffed chicken roll. Using kitchen shears snip the pieces of the toothpick sticking out of the chicken. Repeat with the 5 remaining chicken breasts. Season the outer surface of each roll with more salt and pepper.
- In the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil. Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Set aside.
- In the pan, add the rest of the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, pan-sear each side of the roll for about 1-½ minutes (a total of about 9 minutes) until golden. Finish with a drizzle of lemon juice. Quickly transfer the chicken rolls to a platter. At this point the chicken isn’t cooked completely; it will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Add chicken broth to the hot pan, bring to a boil and scrape the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan using a wooden spoon (called deglazing). Reduce (uncovered) the liquid to about 2-3 tablespoons. Add the white wine, bring to a boil again and cook for about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to low. Add 1 tablespoon of cold butter at a time, stirring continuously. Adjust seasoning of the sauce with salt and pepper. Add the reserved sliced shiitake mushrooms, the rest of the sun-dried tomatoes and chicken rolls. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Allow the chicken to rest for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
- Remove and discard the toothpicks. Slice each roll in half. Cover the chicken rolls with sauce. Serve warm. Garnish with more curly parsley.
- I served the stuffed chicken rolls with pommes duchesse on the side.
- Bon appétit!
