Fig, Goat Cheese, Proscuitto and Pistachio Stuffed Chicken with Fig Balsamic Gastrique
Summer is straight up flying by. I kind of hate it. I usually love Fall, but I’m pretty stressed out about this particular Fall. Can’t we just make the Summer last forever? I’ll even stop complaining about big hair, I promise!
We’ve been keeping particularly busy, which I’m sure has sped things up further. This weekend we took a quick trip to LA to see a couple of beautiful friends say their “I dos.”
We spent the day on the beach in Malibu.
Caught up with a very dear friend in Hollywood.
And of course took a few minutes to be tourists.
Although it was a bit of a whirlwind, last minute trip, we had such a wonderful weekend and I was so glad we bit the bullet and decided to go!
Okay, enough about me. Believe it or not, I do have a recipe for you… and it’s a good one! This flavor combination is not new to the Messy Kitchen (see it here in burger form, and here in pizza form!) but it works really, really well in this stuffed chicken. The studding is sweet, savory and very rich, and as you can see is spilling out of the chicken! The portion below could certainly be stretched our to fill an additional chicken breast. Regular balsamic vinegar can be used if you don’t have fig balsamic, but fig balsamic can be found at any specialty oil and vinegar store (I buy mine at Sapore). If you don’t have tawny port, any sweet dessert wine will do. This recipe requires a little more work than some of the recent chicken recipes I’ve shared, but the result is worth it!
Fig, Goat Cheese, Proscuitto and Pistachio Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Fig Balsamic Gastrique
Adapted from Jan’s Sushi Bar
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (8-10 oz each)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 small shallots, finely chopped
- 5 to 6 large dried Turkish figs, finely diced
- 2 oz roasted pistachios, shelled and chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- A few grinds black pepper
- 1/2 cup tawny port
- 1 ounce prosciutto, thinly sliced and chopped
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup fig balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions:
- Heat the olive oil in a medium-size skillet or sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the figs, pistachios, salt and pepper; continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until the figs and shallots begin to caramelize slightly.
- Stir in the port and continue to stir until the port has reduced and the mixture is very syrupy. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, butterfly the chicken breasts. Lay chicken on a cutting board; with your hand on top of the breast, carefully insert the knife into the thickest part and draw it almost all the way through the breast. Take care to keep one side attached. Open like a book and even out by lightly pounding with the broad side of a cook’s knife, a meat mallet or even your fist, until it’s an even thickness.
- Cover the surface of the each chicken breast evenly with the prosciutto. Combine the goat cheese and rosemary in a small bowl until well-blended. Divide the mixture in half and gently spread each portion thinly over the prosciutto covering the chicken breasts. Divide the fig stuffing and mound on each breast, spreading it down the center. Carefully roll the chicken over the filling, stuffing any that falls out the sides back in.
- Place each breast on a lightly oiled baking sheet seam side up, and bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- While the chicken is cooking, heat the pan the fig stuffing was prepared in over medium-high heat. Deglaze with the balsamic vinegar, scraping up the bits from the surface of the pan; add honey and cook on low until significantly reduced. Stir frequently and be careful not to over cook!
- Carefully cut each chicken breast in half. Plate each half, drizzled with the balsamic reduction.
Serves 4
