Chicken & Basil & Mozz, Oh My! Cheesy Pesto Chicken Rolls for Dinner Tonight!

If I can add anything to a dish to make it better, chances are I'm going to add cheese and fresh basil.  So what could be more appetizing than a dish that already incorporates both as it's main ingredients?!  Pesto is a simple dressing that adds an exclamation point to any meal -- add it to a pasta dish, a salad, or chicken and you've gone from "blah" to "bangin'!"
You can easily use a store-made pesto sauce for this dish to simplify your life.  I will say that fresh pesto is noticeably better, allowing for the fresh basil and olive oil to infuse with the chicken.  If you want to make your own pesto (and I promise it's really easy, especially if you have a food processor), I like to use this recipe.  

This is another one of those dishes that's great at fooling your guests.  It looks like you've slaved away all day in the kitchen, tediously rolling and stuffing and seasoning, but it really only takes 15 minutes!  The cooking time itself is the only time-intensive part (about 50 minutes), but that's when you take the time to enjoy a cocktail with your guests and have an appetizer while the chicken finishes cooking!


Cheesy Pesto Chicken Rolls

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup prepared basil pesto (as fresh as possible)
4 thick slices of fresh mozzarella cheese


Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Clean the chicken breast halves and pound into to about 1/4 inch thick pieces. 
Spread 3 tbsp of the pesto sauce onto each flattened chicken breast.
Place 1 slice of cheese on top of the pesto.
Roll the chicken up tightly (cheese and pesto to the inside) and secure with toothpicks.
Place in a lightly greased baking dish.
Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes until the chicken is nicely browned and the juices run clear.
Serving Suggestions:
Serve chicken over linguine or alongside some rice and asparagus.  You can also add in or serve with fresh tomatoes!
And most importantly, EAT UP!

The most appealing part about this dish (besides the gooey cheesy and zippy pesto), is that the best wine to drink with it is also probably my favorite wine!  A Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, zingy, drinkable white that is usually a light pear- or grassy-green in color, which comes from the green-skinned grape from the Bordeaux region of France.  The grape's name comes from the French words for wild (sauvage) and white (blanc) and originated in South West France.  The grape is now widely cultivated in France, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil, and California.


It is a great summer wine because of its freshness and acidity, but the acidity is also incredibly food-friendly.  A Sauvignon is best paired with chicken, seafood, and some-what spicy dishes.  The wine is filled with citrus and grassy flavors, finished with a crisp, fresh zesty aroma that just begs for you to taste it!  My personal favorite Sauvignon Blanc was introduced to me by my dad... Monkey Bay is a good label, great name, and even better wine.  It's inexpensive (usually between $9.99 - $12.99, depending on where you buy it) and is just irresistible!  I have turned on a lot of my friends to it and have gotten several people as faithful to it as I am.


...Another great Sauvignon blanc is Nobilo, also from New Zealand.  A Sauvignon blanc is usually consumed young because it usually doesn't really gain anything from aging.  The crisp, elegant, and fresh wine is best when chilled slightly and pairs well with fish and many cheese varieties, especially Chèvre (a goat's milk cheese).  A Sauvignon blanc is also one of the few wines that is known to pair well with sushi (another favorite food group of mine).  Besides tasting amazing with sushi, one of the many reasons I love Monkey Bay so much is that it comes in a screw cap!  Sauvignon blanc was one of the first fine wines to be bottled in commercial quantities with a screw cap, especially by New Zealand producers.  So toss that cork screw aside, pour a generous glass of Monkey Bay and serve us some cheesy pesto chicken! 

Monkey Bay in Sippy Cups...
A & K trying not to spill!