Stuffed Cypriot Chicken Breasts with Feta

Ingredients

4 Whole Chicken Breasts with the bone and skin

8 sun-dried tomatoes from a jar, finely chopped

1 small bunch (a handfull) parsley, finely chopped

1 small bunch (a handfull) basil, finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

About 2 tablespoons lemon zest

1 red chilli, finely chopped, seeds removed (add more if you want it hotter)

200g Feta Cheese

Olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground blackk pepper

Preparation

Take a big bowl and mix the sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, chilli, basil, lemon zest and garlic inside. Stir them well and crumble the Feta inside, mixing the products well again. Flavour with very little sea salt and enough black pepper, and stir again. Divide the stuffing into 4 equal portions and proceed to further preparations of the dish.

Lay the chicken breasts on a plastic chopping board, with the skin side down. Use a knife to cut something like a pocket into the fillets. Fill the stuffing into the pocket of each chicken breast, press it a bit and fold the meat to cover it. If you want you can stick through the meat with rosemary springs to make sure the stuffing won't go out, but that is not obligatory if you manage to form good pockets.

Heat up a deep pan and pour 2 glugs of olive oil in it. Put the meat in the pan with the skin side down. Cover the chicken bits with a wet piece of heat-proof paper. You have to crumble the paper under the tap to get it wet, and then to flatten it out to turn it into a lid. The wet paper will keep the moisture in the breasts and they will remain juicy on the inside. Fry until the skin gets a bit brown, then turn the breast over and cover with the wet piece of paper again. When you get a nice brown skin on the bottom side of the meat, turn the chicken bits with the skin side down again, cover with the paper and press with a heavy lid on top, so the skin makes full contact with the pan. The skin will get very crispy and delicious in not more than 2-3 minutes.

When the dish is ready, take the chicken out on a wooden chopping board and cut each breast into nice 1 inch slices, so that the stuffing is visible. Squeeze about two tablespoons lemon juice into the pan where you cooked the chicken while it is still on the stove and stir to mix the flavours. Pour the juices over the chicken breast slices afterwards and you're done. You'll lick your fingers from delight! The chicken meat is soft and tender on the inside and crisp on the outside. It has a mild chilli flavour mixed with the sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. The Feta cheese adds an additional milky flavour which kills the hotness of the chilli, a little bit, together with the freshly ground lemon zest.

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About

This Stuffed Cypriot Chicken Breasts with Feta recipe was inspired by Jamie Oliver, and upgraded a little bit by me. As I love spicy food and healthy recipes, and chicken, I think this is one of my favourite food recipes. The meat gets juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and the spicy stuffing is refreshing and appetizing in the same time. The amount of chilli in the recipe is considered for people who love mild hotness, as I do. If someone wants to make it hotter, he/she can feel free to add more chilli.

This meal will totally blow your mind with its simplicity, flavour and fabulousness. Serve it with whatever garnish you want, but it goes best with stir-fried asparagus with cherry tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and a few Kalamata olives. This is how Jamie Oliver serves it. Consume with a cold beer and with lots of appetite and pleasure. Enjoy.