Chicken Stuffed with Fontina, Bacon and Sun Dried Tomatoes

WARNING: This recipe requires a serious appetite. Just imagine: Bacon. Cheese. Pouring out. Did someone say bacon?  Yum. My sous chef insists I cook entirely too much with bacon but I simply cannot part ways with its deliciousness. So much so, that my wine might feel like I’m having an affair. Not to mention my obsession with Cheese? This is heavenly. I’m just going to break this down for you folks: basil, caramelized onions, sun dried tomatoes, bacon, bubbly fontina cheese. Sinful.

Yeah, you noticed the chicken didn’t get a shout out. That’s because the gooey filling is the star of this dish. And it shines bright. Like bacon… Moving on. I have one confession to make and then I promise not to keep you waiting any longer. When consuming this beauty, I make sure that the cheese to chicken ratio is pretty much even (if not skewed in favor of the cheese) in every bite. Then… when the cheesy inside is gone? Bye bye, chicken. I don’t eat it. The chicken is nothing without the cheese, I declare! Okay, rambling is stopping. Cooking is starting.

Chicken Stuffed with Fontina, Bacon and Sun Dried Tomatoes:

• Three chicken breasts, slivered to create a pocket for our filling
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 cup julienne sun dried tomatoes (if in oil, patted dry)
• 1/4 fresh basil, chopped
• 4 strips thick cut applewood smoked bacon, torn to small pieces
• 6 ounces fontina cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• 3 wooden kebab skewers, broken in half

Alright, friends. Let’s preheat the oven to 375 degrees. We are going to cook the bacon strips in a large saute pan.

Once crispy and beautiful, remove and set aside. Remove all but two tablespoons of bacon fat from the pan. Then, saute the diced onions in the same pan.

These babies are going to soak up all of the bacon deliciousness. Once cooked, remove and store in the fridge too cool. Next, let’s grate our fontina cheese, chop our basil and dry off our sun dried tomatoes.

Then, let’s tear the bacon into smaller pieces.

Finally, combine the bacon, cooled onions, basil, sun dried tomatoes and cheese in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Next, sliver the chicken breasts to create a pocket for our cheese mixture. Generously salt and pepper these puppies. Then, sprinkle garlic powder to finish. Seeing as to how we are using very thick breasts (we have to in order to have enough chicken to create a pocket), I like to brown the chicken in a saute pan to give the chicken a head start on cooking. There’s nothing like delicious under-cooked chicken, right? After slicing the breasts, heat the olive oil and butter in a saute pan. Once it’s hot, let’s add the breasts to start browning.

Do the same for all three breasts. Remove from heat and set aside on a baking sheet (again, I cover mine in tin foil to make for easier clean up. And this recipe, folks, is messy). Then, we are going to stuff these beauties with our mixture.

Using our wooden kebab skewers, mold the chicken around the mixture (the skewers will help keep it in place).

Pop these delightful treats in the oven and sit back, relax with a glass of wine for 18-20 minutes and prepare to be amazed.

Yes, that’s right. Uh-maze-ing.

Friends: the 2011 Rombauer Chardonnay has struck again. What better wine to pair then a California butterball?

I won’t keep you any longer. Dig in!