Stuffed Chicken Breast

The next three recipes are from a dinner party we threw at my house a week or so ago (maybe it was longer, who knows... time flies when you're doing nothing). We had a delicious stuffed chicken breast, a beautiful cream corned side dish, and topped it all off with a strawberry cupcake.

Here is the recipe for the chicken Mindy made:

Panko Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, Tomatoes, and Basil
Recipe from For The Love of Cooking.net  (amazing blog)

Ingredients:
* 1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
* Small handful baby spinach, chopped
* Small handful grape tomatoes, diced (remove seeds if possible)
* 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
* 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
* Dash of oregano
* 2 Chicken breasts
* Italian seasoned panko crumbs
* 2 tablespoons olive oil

To Do:
* Preheat over to 400 degrees
* Combine ricotta, spinach, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined
* Rinse the chicken breasts, then cut along horizontal slit in the center of the chicken breast- butterflying them. Fill the cavity of the chicken with the ricotta mixture. Season each side of chicken with salt and pepper.
* Carefully dip the chicken in the panko crumbs until both sides are evenly covered. Close the slits with toothpicks.
* Heat the olive oil in an oven proof skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken in the skillet and cook until chicken is golden brown. Flip the chicken over and repeat.
* Cook in the oven for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through- it took ours a little longer than expected.
* Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving