gremolata stuffed chicken

My adventures in gluten free living have continued, and I finally have a moment to share one of my new favorite recipes with you.  I bought my first gluten free cookbook a few weeks back, and decided to dive right in with this gremolata stuffed chicken.  It is delicious and full of flavor, and I think it is well worth the added effort of making the stuffing.  There is something about Italian and Mediterranean foods that makes them always worth the extra effort...  The only tricky part (for me) was finding boneless chicken breasts with the skin ON.  Whole Foods kindly deboned a few chicken breasts for me, and with a few extra minutes at the meat counter I was on my way.  Give this one a try and let me know what you think.

Gremolata Stuffed Chicken

Recipe from The Gluten Free Kitchen Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts with skin ON
• 1 C. flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbs. baby capers, rinsed well and drained (I used regular capers- not sure what makes a caper a "baby caper?")
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used my ever faithful pre-chopped garlic.)
• 1 1/2 Tbs. finely chopped preserved lemon peel (Again, wasn't sure how to preserve lemon peel- so I just used lemon zest.)
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place parsley, capers, garlic, lemon peel in a bowl.  Rub in softened butter using your fingers.
3. Separate chicken breast from skin by pushing your fingers or rolling the handle of a wooden spoon under the skin to lift and separate it from the flesh.  (This was tricky for me- I wound up with some skin more separated, but I just stretched it back over the meat as much as I could.)  Spread a quarter of the stuffing under the skin of each breast.  Pat skin back into original shape.  Brush chicken liberally with melted butter and oil.  Season with fresh salt and pepper.
4. Heat skillet over medium high heat and brown chicken skin-side down.  Turn chicken and brown other side.  Transfer chicken to baking sheet and pour over any remaining butter mixture from the skillet.  Bake chicken breasts for about 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
5. Remove chicken from oven and cover loosely with foil.  Rest chicken for a few minutes before slicing and serving.  Slice each breast on an angle.  Drizzle with pan juices to finish.  

Serve with cheesy polenta, roasted tomatoes, and grilled zucchini.  

Enjoy!

xo,