Goat Cheese Stuffed Basil & Garlic Chicken

Believe me when I tell you this…no one is more surprised to see a goat cheese recipe on my site than I am.

No one.

In fact, the day I decided to come up with a goat cheese recipe for dinner – I doubted myself for hours. You see, growing up, cheese came one of two ways…American and wrapped in plastic, or Velveeta, which came in Shells & Cheese. Okay, sometimes shredded mozzarella, but that was for pizza, and we rarely if ever had homemade pizza.

So the idea of goat cheese is a foreign concept to me. I know, I shouldn’t be so timid, so,,, sheltered. I’m getting there! But I’ve come a long way foodwise, and by damn, I was making chicken stuffed with goat cheese.

I was encouraged in my quest by the wonderful PR gal at Chavrie, who was kind enough to send me vouchers to try their goat cheese. So, while at Krogers on Saturday, I picked up a couple of packages – one regular, and one of the Basil and Roasted Garlic variety. I thought the flavor combo sounded so great, and would pair nicely with the chicken I had planned. I was right.

The dish is surprisingly simple to prepare, and an absolute treat to devour. The tanginess of the cheese adds such a great flavor to the chicken, and the garlic keeps the whole thing uniform and delicious. Even Seven enjoyed it, and that’s no joke! One word of warning though – don’t eat the string. The chicken is rolled up and tied with cooking twine, and once it’s coated in panko, the string may be a little difficult to see. So remember it’s there, and don’t get all excited and eat it. I mean not that I know or anything, but it could happen.

It could. It could happen to you.

And should it happen, just remember this: Like my elders always say – This too shall pass. And it will. Again, not that I know.

Basil & Garlic Chicken Stuffed with Chavrie Goat Cheese

• 4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
• 5.3 ounce pkg Chavrie Basil & Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 egg
• 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
• 4 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375.

Filet the chicken breasts, then pound with meat mallet until roughly 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, garlic, and basil. Fill with Chavrie, and roll up. Tie each piece of chicken with two pieces of cooking twine.

Scramble the egg in a wide bowl. Dip each piece of prepared chicken in the egg, then dip into bowl of panko crumbs. Press crumbs onto all sides of the chicken, and place in casserole pan. Repeat with remaining chicken. Pour melted butter over each piece of breaded chicken. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, or until chicken tests done. Serve and enjoy! We paired ours with rice, baby carrots and broccoli – but any pairing would be great! Au gratin potatoes, corn, green beans – anything would pair nicely with this friendly dish.

Would you like to try Chavrie yourself? Of course you would! Lucky for you, I have some FREE Coupons, and a nice Chavrie Cookbook for one lucky winner. It’s super easy to win, too. Just leave me a comment here, letting me know one of two things…One – what’s your favorite goat cheese recipe (feel free to link to it!) or Two – Have you ever even tried goat cheese?

That’s it, no fussing around. It would be GREAT though, if you’d follow Chavrie on Twitter and Facebook (and me too, me tooooo!) but, not required. If you do decide to follow them either of the places, feel free to leave a second comment, and that will count as two entries to win. No bonuses for following me this time, but do be warned – I tend to throw out bonus chances on Facebook especially. That’s a hint!

Contest is open to US shipping addresses only, and ends on April 10th at 11:59pm. Good luck!