Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Today I came home from work thinking I might make some Annie's mac n cheese and throw in some broccoli - not a very inspired evening. I went through the refrigerator and (as often happens at my place) I found a drawer in there that I totally forgot about, and thus found some ingredients I totally forgot I bought (like 5 days ago, don't worry I didnt like scrape off the mold and forge ahead - though I have before. cheese is supposed to get moldy!). In any case, I found a few pieces of prosciutto, some goat cheese and some baby bell peppers. Once I found all of this, I was like, umm, mac and cheese? honey please. So I got a little excited, pulled out two chicken breasts and planned to stuff them. I love stuffing meats (shame on you for making that dirty, if you did - if not, shame on me for pointing it out). I do though, I stuff chicken breasts a lot. I have done bacon and Havarti stuffed breast, cherry tomato and garlic stuffed breast, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp scamp- sorry. So here is the recipe with some oh so non-professional pictures.

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized chicken breasts
1/2 Cup of Vegetable Stock
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Cup Fingerling or tiny Potatoes
Kitchen Twine

The Stuffing:
4 Tablespoons of Goat Cheese
2 Pieces of Prosciutto, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon finely minced Sage
2 Tablespoons finely minced baby bell peppers (or regular bell peppers, I used red and yellow for color)
Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Instructions:
Boil about 3 cups of water in a sauce pan and cut the fingerling potatoes into halves. Boil the potatoes for 12 minutes or so, until they are softer but not completely cooked. Set aside in a strainer.
Set oven to 380 and pat down thawed chicken breasts, as it is important they are dry for when you pan fry them. Cut into each breast a pocket in the meatiest section so that there are no holes to the other side and it's big enough to fit about a 1/2 Cup of stuffing. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, inside and out.
Combine all of the ingredients for the stuffing in a bowl and mash together with your hands (its the best way, and getting messy is fun!). Once the ingredients are sufficiently mashed, roll it into a ball and split it in two - one for each piece of chicken.






Stuff each piece of chicken with the mixture, the goal being to get all of it inside and into the very back of the pocket you cut before. Once you've done this, take your twine and tie up those breasts! I used two pieces of short twine for each to make sure nothing came out either end while cooking.

Heat up a medium sized saute pan with the olive oil until its really steamy, and place each piece of chicken into the pan, browning on both sides - this will take about 3-4 minutes a side. Once the pieces are browned, add the vegetable stock to deglaze, and also add the potatoes (half boiled, because they'll be baked, too). Place the pan in the oven for 35 minutes and enjoy a stuffed slice of heaven!