Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Couscous Stuffed Chicken Breast with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Couscous Stuffed Chicken Breast with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Guy's Big Bite)

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
For the couscous:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 tablespoons kalamata olives, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 (10-ounce) box couscous
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled

For chicken:
4 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

For the sauce:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 lemon, juiced
6 tablespoons julienned sun-dried tomatoes
4 tablespoons roughly chopped kalamata olives
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled, for garnish

For the couscous:
Directions
In saucepan over medium heat add olive oil, when hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and saute a few minutes more. Add olives and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the box of couscous, turn off heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork, and season with salt and pepper. Spread 2 cups on large plate, add in 1/2 pound feta, and let cool. Keep the remaining hot to serve with chicken. (Put in covered casserole and reheat in oven last 10 minutes with chicken.)

For the chicken:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Trim chicken with a boning knife, if needed. Start at top of breast and carefully make a lengthwise cut from top to bottom and making a pocket about 2 inches, making sure not to pierce the other side of the breast. When couscous is cool enough to handle, carefully spoon couscous mixture into pocket. Even out the stuffing by gently moving it around with your hands. Wipe off any excess couscous from outside of breasts and season with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil and butter in saute pan and brown off both sides of chicken. Place chicken on baking sheet and place in oven for 20 minutes.
While chicken is baking, make the sauce.

For the sauce:
In saute pan that you cooked chicken breasts in, heat and add garlic. Deglaze with white wine and add lemon juice. Reduce by one third. Add in sun-dried tomatoes, let reduce for 2 to 3 minutes, add the olives, turn off heat, add the butter and stir to combine.
To serve, place couscous from oven on plate, cut chicken breast in half, top with sauce, crumble remaining feta cheese over.

1 comment:

  1. I folowed this recipe exactly but there was definitely too much feta called for in the recipe. I would say that you only need 1/2 pound TOTAL of feta or one of those large boxes. The chicken with the coucous and feta is a bit heavy so I would balance it with a lighter side, like a salad. Also, watch the chicken to make sure it's not too overcooked and dry.

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