Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Roasted Tomatoes, Bacon, and Ramps

Goat cheese stuffed chicken breasts

Sometimes, just when I think I have absolutely nothing to feed my family, I come up with the strangest concoction of assorted ingredients that really makes an amazing meal. The other night, my options were looking pretty limited with few bright spots of hope. In the freezer, I had some chicken breasts and home-cured bacon from C-Saw Hill and in the fridge I had some plain goat cheese and a bunch of ramps my sitter brought back as a gift from her trip to Asheville. Hmmm... what to do, what to do?

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

While pondering the possibilities, I thinly sliced a tomato and layered the slices on a cookie sheet, drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled a little sea salt on top. I sliced a few cloves of garlic and tossed them on the cookie sheet as well. I set the oven to 250 degrees and let tomatoes and garlic roast for a bit while I procrastinated and did my best to avoid the piles of papers that needed to be graded. The house started to smell absolutely delicious and I knew that these slow roasted tomatoes had to be a part of dinner.

As dinner hour approached, so to did the daily afternoon activity scramble.  As the clock was ticking, I made the quick decision to simply stuff all of these ingredients into chicken breasts and hope for the best. Forty minutes later, the house smelled amazing, the kids were clamoring for dinner, and I couldn't stop taste testing tiny bites as I sliced the stuffed chicken breasts and put them neatly (ha!) on my children's plates. We served our stuffed chicken breasts with a beautiful salad and some garlicky rice and left the table totally satisfied. Give this recipe a try ... easy, delicious.

Ingredients:

Amazing bacon from C-Saw Hill

2 chicken breasts, halved and split
4 ounces goat cheese
1 tomato, sliced and slow roasted
2 slices bacon, chopped
2 or 3 ramps, chopped
A few cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper

Directions: 

1. Slow roast tomatoes ... thinly slice tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and cook at 250 degrees for about 2 hours. Add the cloves of garlic to the pan as well and let them roast with the tomatoes. When the tomatoes are done, cut them into thin strips.

2. Chop the bacon and the ramps and cook them together with slices of garlic. After the bacon is nice and crispy, lay the pieces on a paper towel to absorb any excess grease.

2 chicken breasts, split and halved

Split chicken breasts filled with goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, bacon, and ramps

2. Split the chicken breasts in half and lay open like butterfly wings. On one side, spoon about 1 ounce or so of goat cheese, top with crumbled bacon and ramps, slices of roasted tomato, and some garlic.

3. Fold the chicken breasts back together, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook at 375 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Thinly slice the chicken breasts and serve with a beautiful salad or greens. Enjoy!

A few notes ... This is a great time of year to experiment with ramps. Ramps are in the onion family and they are only growing for a limited time in this area. They are pungent!! If you are interested in other recipes using ramps, you might want to check out this recipe for Tomato Mozzarella Sandwiches with Ramp Pesto or this recipe for Kale and Wild Ramp Risotto.