Caprese Chicken
You won't believe how easily and fast this easy Caprese Chicken comes together. This chicken is quite notable for a dinner party or gathering, and pops easily.
Servings 4
Calories 391kcal
Ingredients
- 6 oz chicken-breasts pounded to even thickness
- 1 tsp cracked black-pepper
- 1 tsp garlic-powder
- 1 tbsp olive-oil
- 1 tsp onion-powder
- 8 oz fresh-mozzarella, sliced into 8 even pieces
- 2 tsp italian-seasoning
- fresh basil to taste
- 2 tsp sea or kosher-salt
- 2 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced into ½" slices
- aged balsamic or balsamic-glaze to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken. Place a chicken-breast on a sheet of parchment-paper. Fold the paper on the chicken.
- With a rolling-pin, pound the chicken-breast to thickness of a bit less than 1". Put aside and repeat with the remaining chicken-breast.
- Blend the italian-seasoning, sea-salt, garlic-powder, onion-powder, and pepper in a small-bowl then stir to blend.
- Brush the chicken with olive-oil, then sprinkle with the seasoning mix. Twist the chicken-breast, then oil and season the other hand.
- Heat a grill or grill-pan over high-heat. Put the chicken-breasts on the grill and cook for 5-6minutes each side, or till the internal-temperature reads 155°F working with an instant read-thermometer (the chicken will come to appropriate temperatures at the next measure).
- Top each chicken-breast with 2 slices fresh-mozzarella. Keep on grilling 3minutes, or till the cheese melted and the internal-temperature reads 165°F.
- Put the chicken-breasts on a platter or individual-plates. Top each chicken-breast with 2-3pieces of fresh-tomatoes, then sprinkle with fresh-basil and extra salt and pepper to taste.
- Before serving, drizzle with aged balsamic-vinegar or balsamic-reduction. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Don't cook the chicken to correct temperature in Step 4 or it's going to be overcooked and onto the dry-side from the time that the cheese is melted.
- You might choose to put a cover over the grill-pan (or just near your grill) to assist the cheese-melt. I use an inverted 9x12" cake pan as a "cover" for my grill-pan. Ensure that you utilize an oven mitt to get rid of it!
- Constantly use an instant-read thermometer to test for suitable meat fever.
- To double this recipe (for a crowd) with a grill-pan: grill the chicken-breasts in batches into 155°F, then move to a baking-sheet and cover with an inverted rectangular cake-pan to keep the chicken-warm.
- After all of the chicken-breasts are cooked, then leading them with fresh-mozzarella, then move the baking-sheet to some heated 500°F oven. Bake for 2-4minutes, or till the cheese is melted and the chicken reaches 165°F.