Bacon Wrapped "Meat Lovers Pizza" Stuffed Chicken Breast

Dinner, Main Dish, Poultry

Ingredients

1/4 cup (61.25g) tomato sauce (recipe)

1 large (118g) chicken breast, boneless and skinless

1 slice (28g) ham

14 thin slices (28g) pepperoni

2 ounces (56g) raw italian sausage (recipe)

1/4 cup (25g) parmesan (reggiano) cheese, grated

1/4 cup (28g) whole milk, low moisture mozzarella, grated

4 slices (100g) raw bacon

salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425° F.

Standard tomato sauce, whether homemade or store bought usually has a good deal of water added to it. First, start by placing the tomato sauce on the stove, in a small sauce pot, over medium heat. Let it reduce by half, while you assemble the rest of the ingredients. Once it's reduced to a thick paste, set it aside.

Butterfly the chicken breast (or buy it that way). Lay the chicken breast on a flat cutting board. Place a knife parallel to the cutting board, about 1/2 inch above the surface. Slice into the breast, maintaining a slice that is parallel to the cutting board and essentially cuts the breast in half. HOWEVER, do not cut through the entire breast. Also, be careful not to tear the meat or slice either side too thin. Both top and bottom halves should be equal in thickness. You want to stop slicing, just prior to slicing through the opposing side of the breast. Once you've sliced almost through the breast, you can open it, like the pages of a book. You essentially want to create a thin sheet of chicken.

Once you've got a thin sheet of chicken breast, place it between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it even thinner. You can use a mallet, rolling pin, or even the bottom of a sauce pan. Just be careful to hit it flatly and evenly, or else you will make deep divots in the chicken. Ideally, the chicken will be a thin and even sheet of chicken breast, when you are done.

VERY lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Place your slice of ham on the chicken.

Spread your raw Italian chicken sausage evenly over the ham.

Spread your tomato sauce evenly over the top of the sausage.

Evenly distribute your pepperoni slices over the sauce.

Mix your two cheeses. Then evenly spread over the sauce.

Roll your chicken into a log. Try and roll it as tightly, as possible. Set it aside.

Set your 4 bacon slices on a cutting board, and cut them all in half. This will result in 8 short slices of bacon. Stretch them out, a bit.

Lay one slice of bacon on the cutting board, then offset a second slice of bacon. The top and bottom should match, but the slice should be next to the original. Continue this process until you have a sheet of bacon slices.

Pre-heat a large oven-proof sauté pan, over medium-high heat.

Lay the chicken log at the top of the sheet of bacon, making sure it's perpendicular to the strips of bacon. Tightly roll the log into the bacon sheet, making sure there is a clean seam at the bottom of the finished log.

Once the log is complete and the pan is hot, carefully place the seam side down in the sauté pan. Let it sear for about 30 seconds, then place the entire pan in the oven. Allow it to bake for roughly 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the log.

Once the chicken has an internal temperature of 160° F, remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 10 minutes, before slicing.

Slice and serve! Delicious with more sauce, pasta, a side of steamed broccoli and etc.!