This delicious chicken roulade is not only a delicious and juicy meal but also beautiful. Roulade can be stuffed with a variety of things. Many enjoy using spinach leaves, many include a cheese. Today I am making roulade filled with basil pesto and mozzarella.
Ingredients needed
Chicken Breast Four chicken breast will in turn make four roulade in this recipe. You will butterfly the chicken by slicing them lengthwise down the center. When they are opened up they look like a butterfly.
Basil Pesto I love basil pesto which you can buy at the store of make your own. I use my own homemade basil pesto. I will make a video for that once the garden gets going this year. The pesto is the base spread I use inside my chicken roulade.
Mozzarella sticks Using mozzarella sticks inside the roulade make it easy. They will add the cheesy goodness to our roulade.
Salt and Pepper These are simply the seasonings I am using today. You can, of course, add others if you’d like. Like I’ve said before, I add salt and pepper to most of my main dish meals as they are a key ingredient providing both a great taste, brightness, and flavor.
Olive Oil The oil is only used for the pan-searing step in this recipe. Since we are not frying anything we do not need a high heat oil like peanut oil or vegetable oil.
VIDEO OF THE PROCESS
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How to make chicken roulade
One chicken breast at a time, you want to butterfly them by slicing them down the middle of one of the sides trying to make two equal halves that are still connected so when you open it up it will resemble a butterfly. If they do come detached that it ok as well. You can just create two smaller rolls. If the chicken breast is too thin to butterfly you can just pound it flat.
Now you can pound your chicken flat in numerous different ways. One thing you will want is a barrier between the meat tenderizer and the chicken. You can use a plastic bag, wax paper, or I use a silicone mat. If you noticed in the video I goofed up. You always want to have the skin side of the chicken down so it’s easier to roll up and looks much nicer.
Once the chicken is flattened you now spread on a layer of basil pesto. I used my own homemade pesto and I will make a blog/video on that this coming summer but you can also just buy already prepared basil pesto.
After spreading the basil pesto, place a mozzarella stick on one end on the chicken breast.
Now you can roll it up and secure it with a toothpick lengthwise. This makes it easier to sear the sides and flip it over. When you hammer it skin side down it rolls up much easier and looks much nicer. like the image below.
Time to sear them. In a hot frying pan or skillet, add a splash of oil and sear the chicken roulade for about 3 minutes per side.
Finally, place them all in a casserole dish or use a skillet you can place from stovetop directly into the oven.
I threw in some cherry tomatoes and drizzled them with a little oil and sprinkling of salt. Place the dish in the oven at 400 degrees f for approximately 20 minutes. Start checking the internal temperature around 15 minutes in. When the chicken is at 165 degrees it is done.
Let the chicken cool for 5 minutes before slicing into 3/4 inch rounds. I like to drizzle the rounds with basil pesto for even more flavor. (I love basil pesto)
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Chicken Roulade with basil pesto & mozzarella
Equipment
- 1 casserole dish (I used a 9×13)
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 cutting board
- wax paper or silicone mat
- 1 meat tenderizer/mallet
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 pkg mozzarella sticks (one per breast)
- 1 jar basil pesto
- salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Instructions
- On your cutting board or on a piece of wax paper, butterfly your chicken breast (slicing down the middle of one side trying to keep them connected so when it's opened it looks like a butterfly).
- If your can't keep them connected it's fine you can simply create two smaller rolls. If the chicken breast is too thin to butterfly just hammer it flat as it is.
- Place your silicone mat or other piece of wax paper on top of the chicken and hammer with the mallet to make it a thinner piece of meat for rolling.
- Spread a layer of basil pesto over the top of the chicken breast
- Place your mozzarella stick on one end and roll it up
- Secure the roll with a toothpick inserted lengthwise to make it easier to keep it together and flip to sear the sides.
- Season each roll with salt and pepper.
- Heat up a saucepan and add a splash of oil and then sear each side for approx. 3 minutes.
- Place seared rolls in casserole dish and place in the oven at 400°f for approx. 20 minutes. Start checking the internal temperature of the chicken after about 15 minutes. Throw in some tomatoes oil and salt for fire-roasted tomatoes.
- The chicken is cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°. The temperature will continue to rise even after being removed from the oven. I removed mine at 160°.
- Let the chicken sit for 5 minutes before slicing into ¾" rounds. I threw some