Recipe Swap - Chicken Caprese

After a weekend spent celebrating my birthday with friends and family from back home, and not cooking a single meal last week (eek!) I was ready to get home on Sunday and get back in the kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I had some great meals...Eddie V's on the night of my birthday with K, Sushi Zushi on Saturday with one of my best girlfriends back home, and The Gristmill on Sunday with my parents...along with several pieces of cake, candy and assorted other treats...I'm sure the scale is not going to be kind to me in the morning. But hey, that's the perks of having a birthday, right?? Pig out and then diet like crazy later! Right? Yeah, I'm gonna stick with that theory.


This week's recipe swap theme was Italian, and I received this delicious Chicken Caprese recipe from Mary Ellen, of Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations. I was excited to try this one just from looking at the picture. It looked fairly light (bonus!) and refreshing for the summer! The end result was not disappointing...it tasted delicious!

Chicken Caprese

Source: Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Olive oil
• Oregano
• Garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• ¼ cup flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs mixed with a touch of salt, pepper, and garlic powder
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 4 oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp dried basil leaves
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c white wine
• 1/2 lb cooked spaghetti
• 1/2 c reserved cooking liquid from the pasta

Preparation

• Pound chicken just a bit, and then coat it with some olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic powder. I then put it in the fridge for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350; also start to boil a pot of water for the pasta.
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan
• Dredge chicken in flour; dip in egg, repeat to double dip it. Then coat chicken in the breadcrumbs and add to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Transfer chicken to a baking dish and put in the oven (no more than 10 min in the oven)
• At this point your water should be boiling so you can cook the pasta.
• Add 1/2 tbsp olive oil to the pan.
• Add garlic, sauté 1 min
• De-glaze pan with wine, scraping up all brown bits.
• Add chopped tomatoes and let simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
• Move the chopped tomatoes to the side and add the sliced tomatoes and let cook for 1 min. This is so you aren't putting raw tomatoes on top of the chicken.
• Take the chicken out of the oven, top with the sliced tomatoes, a few slices of mozzarella, half of the basil, and a touch of freshly ground black pepper (pepper is optional). Return to the oven on broil for 2 minutes.
• Add reserved cooking liquid from the pasta to the tomato mixture. Let simmer.
• Toss pasta in the tomato mixture.
• Serve chicken over the pasta.