Baked Pesto Chicken

Smother anything with pesto (and/or cheese for that matter) and my family will eat it! This is a really easy chicken recipe that will please the pesto lover(s) in your house.

Baked Pesto Chicken
From: South Beach Diet iphone app; found on the Cooking Claire blog

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup pesto (from a jar)
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper
halved grape tomatoes (optional)

Directions:
Heat oven to 375. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Spread 1/4 cup of the pesto in a 9x13 baking dish. Lay chicken breasts over pesto in an even layer and spread with remaining pesto.

Cover baking dish with foil and bake chicken until cooked through, 20-25 minutes. Uncover and top with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, 5 more minutes. Garnish with halved grape tomatoes and serve (optional).



The Result:
This was a crowd-pleaser! My family gobbled it up, and it was super-easy to put together. My cooking time was a little longer by about 5-10 minutes, since my chicken breasts were on the thick side (I didn't bother pounding them out to be of uniform thickness). The tomatoes were a nice touch and made the whole dish remind me of yummy caprese salad. Delish!