Caramelized apple and cheese-stuffed chicken breasts

Serves:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 heaped tablespoons sugar, raw preferably
• 6 chicken breast (free-range preferably), trimmed of all excess fat
• 250g Colby or tasty cheese, cut into 1.5x10cm sticks
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup full-cream milk
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil (vegetable or canola will do)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

In a frying pan, over low to medium heat, melt butter. Add apples and sugar and saute for approx. 8 minutes until they soften and start to caramelise. Remove apples and set aside to cool completely.

Using a sharp paring knife, remove the chicken tender from the breast. Create a 2cm hole down the very middle of each breast, being careful not to puncture the sides of the breast (or your stuffing with come out).

Stuff each breast with some apple, a cheese stick and then some more apple.

Put the breadcrumbs in one bowl and pour the milk into another bowl. Dip each breast all around into the milk, then the breadcrumbs and place onto a plate.

Bring the frying pan back to a medium heat, add the tablespoon oil, and fry each breast until lightly golden on each side, but not completely cooked through.

Place the breasts onto a baking sheet and into the hot oven for 12 minutes.

Remove and serve immediately with a green salad, veggies or mash.

Notes:

• If you want this to be even more delicious, marinate the chicken breasts overnight covered in milk and covered in cling film. Then pat dry when you are ready to stuff and cook.
• You can add some toasted walnuts into the stuffing, and change the cheese to goats cheese for an adult version – yum!
• I love cooking with grapeseed oil as an alternative to vegetable oil as it is better for you. It cooks everything golden without burning. You can find this at any large supermarket.
• My mum loves making this recipe with avocado and cheese combination. She also taught me to dip the chicken in milk instead of eggs – since I buy free-range organic eggs (which are expensive), I prefer to save my eggs for a meal!
• If you think 6 chicken breasts is too much for your family, calculate your chicken needs by allocating one breast for each adult and half a breast for kids.
• You can save the chicken tenders for a quick stirfry meal on another night.

This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

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