Рецепт Tomato Garlic and Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Who can resist tomatoes that look like this?After I made these golden-seared chicken breasts with their moist center of plump ripe tomatoes, melted cheese and pungent garlic sauce, I wondered if I could call this an original recipe. But when, exactly, is a recipe
an original? This is a hard
question to answer because there don’t seem to be any hard and fast rules.
Interestingly, copyright laws don’t give a lot of help here. From what I have
read, while most cookbooks are themselves copyrighted, the individual recipes
can’t be. The theory is that recipes are in the “public domain”. This relies on the idea that several people
can, at any time, come up with the same thing—ingredients and cooking
techniques being pretty well universal. What copywriting a cookbook does is to bar copying every recipe out of that cookbook, in the same order, and then trying to make money out of your
purloined manuscript. But how then do
people win Recipe contests? Aren’t they
all variations on something else someone else has done? That’s factually correct. People who win
things like the Pillsbury Bake-Off generally do so by adapting a recipe, changing up its key flavors but keeping the
cooking method pretty much one that’s tried and true. The starting point for this recipe was one in Gourmet but the ingredients differed from the cheese to the tomatoes to the spinach I served with it.
The kick-off point
was using yet another boneless, skinless chicken breast to create something
quick, delicious and easy. And lets face
it, boneless skinless chicken breasts are particularly quick and easy. It’s the
delicious part that needs frequent help.
Here it is the first week of autumn and we still have wonderful tomatoes
everywhere we look. Since I know we are
about the head into the season where I will have to confine myself to the grape or
cherry varieties, I want to use every wonderful tomato there is left before the
first frost strikes. I also had a half a
boule of Buffalo Mozzarella in the fridge that I wanted to use.
Finally, the Gourmet recipe used a
secret ingredient that I know gives great flavor, even if it gives great pause
when you see it: Anchovy Paste. Please
do me a favor and before you go “Ewwww”, try this. You won’t taste the anchovies unless you
don’t completely mix the two tablespoons of paste into the dish. What you will taste is an incredibly
flavorful sauce that works it magic on the tomatoes, the cheese and on the
chicken breasts themselves. Here is the
recipe:
Recipe for Tomato, Garlic and Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts:
2 large
garlic clove, minced and mashed
2
tablespoons anchovy paste
1/2 cup
finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tablespoons
olive oil, divided
4 boneless,
skinless, chicken breast halves
2 large plum
tomatoes, cut crosswise into slices, discarding ends
8 ounces of
Mozzarella di Buffalo or Whole Milk Mozzarella cut into slices.
1. Stir together garlic, anchovy paste, parsley, 1
tablespoon oil, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
2. With a sharp knife, “butterfly” chicken breasts in
half horizontally, being careful not to cut them all the way through. Open
breasts and lay them flat on a cutting board.
3. Pat chicken dry, then spread with parsley mixture.
Lay the sliced tomatoes on top of the parsley mixture. Lay the pieces of Mozzarella on top of the tomatoes. Season with freshly ground pepper.
4. Season the outside
of the chicken breasts with outside of pockets with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4
teaspoon pepper (each), then brush with 1/2 tablespoon oil. If you’d like, use metal skewers to hold the
chicken halves together. 5. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a large nonstick
skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and brown 4 minutes per
side. Reduce heat to low and cover skillet, then cook until chicken is just
cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes more. Serve with pan juices. Serves 4.