If there’s a dish I would serve again and again to company, this is it. If you’ve never worked with puffed pastry before, it’s actually very easy. Puffed pastry is a dough consisting of several layers of dough that have been buttered. The result is a rich, flaky dough that rises and tastes divine as a main dish or dessert.
You can add anything you’d like inside the puffed pastry. Try topping the chicken with sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese, or go sweet and top your chicken with apricot jam and almonds. Any way you make this, it’s divine…and surprisingly easy.
To make this recipe you’ll need:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (not huge ones)
1 TB butter
½ package (1 sheet) frozen puffed pastry, thawed in the refrigerator
1 egg
1 Tablespoon water
1 container (4oz) spreadable herb cheese, any kind
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
To make this recipe:
Melt butter in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove from the pan and refrigerate up to a day. (You can’t put hot chicken on cold puffed pastry or it’ll never rise)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Make sure you’ve thawed the puffed pastry in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 30 minutes. Mix the egg and water in a small bowl and set aside.
Unfold the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out until it’s about 14 inches (square) then cut into 4 equal-sized pieces. Spread an equal amount (about 2 TB) of herbed cheese in the center of each square and sprinkle with 1 TB parsley. Top with the cooked chicken. To help the dough stick, brush the edges of the squares with the egg mixture, then fold the corners of the dough in toward the center of the chicken, making sure to seal the edges. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and brush with the egg mixture. You may add sesame seeds if you’d like.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Delicious with mashed potatoes and carrots