Serves 6
- 3 lb – boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup – pine nuts
- 20-24 toothpicks
- Paste :
- 4 cloves – garlic
- 2 tsp – fresh oregano (or ½ tsp dried oregano)
- 2 cups – Basil leaves (2 pkgs @ 1 1/3 oz) – loosely packed
- 2/3 cup – Asiago Cheese, grated
- 1/4 cup – olive oil
- Bound Breading:
- 1 cup – flour
- 1 tsp – salt
- 2-3 eggs
- 2 cups – Asiago Cheese – finely grated
- 1/2 lemon rind – zested
- 1 cup – Panko Breadcrumbs – unflavored
Place the garlic, oregano, basil leaves, olive oil and 2/3 cup Asiago cheese (Not the pine nuts) into a food processor and blend to a thick puree.
After removing fat, cut chicken breasts into quarters. Using a meat mallet and saran wrap over the chicken, pound each breast quarter to flatten to 1/4”-3/8” thickness. Spread the puree mixture on each flattened chicken piece and sprinkle about 12-24 pine nuts across the surface. Roll the chicken so the mixture is on the inside and pin each roll with 2-3 toothpicks.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 11” x 16” baking sheet.
Set up a work area with 2 dinner plates and a small mixing bowl (or equivalent working areas in a row). The 1st area will be flour and salt; the 2nd area will be 2 eggs, beaten (in a bowl); and the 3rd will be the Panko breadcrumbs, lemon zest & Asiago cheese mixed together. Roll each chicken roll in the flour, then dip in the egg wash, and roll in the panko mixture to coat. Set each completed roll on the baking sheet.
Bake the chicken rolls for 20 minutes, turning the chicken rolls 1/3 every 10 minutes to brown each side. Set oven at 400F and bake the final 10 minutes.