Chicken Antipasti

Baked chicken smothered in pesto topped with salami and mozzarella. Need more? Ok! Add a sauce made with garlic, cherry tomatoes, and artichokes. How about that? This unique mix of flavors comes together perfectly over pasta leaving you satiated both in taste and appetite. I love antipasti platters. They are one of the best noshing choices out there, in my opinion. The meats, the cheeses, the marinated veggies, all at your finger tips, ripe for the picking.

It only made sense to turn it into a meal. That way I can call it dinner and make it anytime I want. Right? Justified! I’m calling it antipasti chicken since it has many of the components of a good antipasti platter: tomatoes, mozzarella, cured meat, and artichokes. The only big one I don’t use is olives…. I’ve never liked olives. But I bet if you’re an olive lover, you could incorporate them into this meal easily enough.

Ingredients:

• 2 containers cherry tomatoes – I use 1 red and 1 orange
• fresh basil – 1 bunch finely diced
• 1 small yellow onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves diced
• 4+ tbsp of balsamic vinegar – depending on how zippy you want it, you may choose to add more later
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts – drained and coarsley chopped
• 4 thinly sliced chicken breast (or 2 large, butterfly cut)
• Thin sliced genoa salami
• 4 tbsp pesto
• Mozzarella fresca slices – enough to cover chicken breasts
• Pasta of your choice (I like spaghetti or linguine)

Time: 1 hour

Servings: 4

Instructions:

Sauce:

In a large sauce pan with a lid add the tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, and chicken broth.

Cover and let simmer on medium for about 30 minutes. Check it every so often. The tomatoes will soften and pop open. Stir occasionally

Add salt and pepper to taste. If it needs something more, try adding garlic salt or more balsamic vinegar

Once its a sauce that makes you smile to taste, turn off the burner.

Then…..

Cook pasta according to directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

While these two things are happening…..

Chicken:

You want your chicken to be roughly 1/2 inch thickness all around. Either butterfly cut and/or pound the chicken.

Rub both sides of the chicken breast with pesto. Just use your hands, it’s gross but easiest.

Place all of your sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

Place the chicken on top of the sauce.

Layer salami over chicken and place the quartered artichoke hearts around and on chicken.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Take out and layer salami and mozzarella over the chicken breasts.

Bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve over pasta!