Parmesan chicken stuffed with pesto rosso

Today I come with a simple, quick recipe capable of getting us out of trouble at any given moment. This is the typical dish that seems super laborious, but, however, is made in a jiffy . And the best of all is that they will make you wave at home.

Who doesn't love chicken with a crispy crust and delicious filling? This recipe has the best of fried chicken but without the inconvenience of frying.

To get one of the crispiest and most exquisite crusts you've ever tasted , you just have to grate your own bread ; a hard bread, one of those bread that you plan to throw away because there is no one who wants to put their teeth into it. Of course, it is not about leaving the breadcrumbs like commercial bread, you have to leave it with texture: small pieces of bread. With a food processor this process will be very simple, with a few pulses it will be great.

As you can see, this recipe not only gets you out of trouble, but also helps you get rid of that surplus of stale bread that no one wants. And if bread isn't your thing, let me tell you that you're in luck, since soft oat flakes work wonderfully in this recipe (proven!)

Without further ado, I leave you with the recipe for these delicious chicken breasts with a parmesan and pesto crust, which will surely become the star dish of your house...

Ingredients

• 3 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 190 g red pesto
• 80 g stale bread (to grate)
• 30 g parmesan cheese
• Zest of a large lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper

Ceramic baking tray Emile Henry and the T&G wooden pizza and cake peel

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC, heat up and down with the rack in the central part of the oven.

2. We open each breast, massage it with lemon zest and fill each one with a tablespoon of pesto rosso. We close and place in a baking dish provided with greaseproof paper on its base.
3. We put the bread in a food processor , and chop/shred it until it makes small crumbs, almost flour.
4. In a bowl, mix the rest of the pesto with the homemade breadcrumbs, parmesan, lemon zest, salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil.
5. We distribute the previous mixture over the chicken breasts. They should be very well buried in the breadcrumb mixture. Season with salt and pepper and pour a splash of olive oil on top.
6. We bake for about 20 minutes. Once baked, we let it rest for 5 minutes and serve.