Baked Goat cheese-stuffed Chicken with Pesto Risotto

What I used for inspiration:

Chicken breast in my freezer

Rice in my pantry

Herbed goat cheese

Mushrooms that were about to go funky

Chicken broth leftover from the pesto

Pesto from yesterday

As I was looking at the pesto and the chicken I thought, hmmm let's do that combo. And then I had an epiphany--if pesto goes with pasta, why not rice! And then the goat cheese said to me, stuff me inside of the chicken! (yes, my food speaks to me) So there you go!

I present to you:

Baked Goat cheese-stuffed Chicken with Pesto Risotto

For the risotto:

1 T olive oil

8 button mushrooms, quartered (I used baby portabella aka cremini)

1 C rice (I used arborio, the kind traditionally used to make risotto)

4 C (1 whole container) chicken stock

Dried parsley and garlic

1/4 C homemade pesto

For the chicken:

1 large or two small chicken breasts

2 oz herbed goat cheese

In a medium sauce pan, heat the olive oil and and then add the mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes, and then add some dried parsley and garlic for good measure, and then the rice.

While that's getting happy, prepare the chicken breast. The piece of chicken I had was pretty large, so I cut it in half and then sliced each piece almost all the way through, making a nice pocket in which to stuff the herbed goat cheese. Set aside.

When the rice is coated in the oil and a little bit toasty (takes a few minutes), add all of the chicken stock. Let simmer uncovered for about 15-20 minutes. It should still be pretty crunchy (it'll finish cooking in the oven) and look something like this:

Then add about 1/4 C of the pesto--it gives the rice a subtle green color and of course adds a ton of flavor!

I decided to finish cooking the rice in the oven while baking the chicken, so pour the rice into a baking dish and place stuffed chicken on top

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked.

To round out the meal, I lightly steamed some French green beans called haricots verts

What a beautiful dish! Looks great, tastes even better!!

Bon appetit!!