Baked Pesto Chicken

Another EASY EASY EASY recipe. Again, everyone in our family enjoyed it. And you can change it up too.. since there are different options of pestos on the market, it would definitely work with any. But of course, if you make your own basil pesto (oh how i cant wait to have a garden), I am sure that would be the most delicious.

Baked Pesto Chicken

What You Need:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning chicken
1/2 cup basil pesto (or any pesto you prefer)
2 oz. (1/2 cup) grated low-fat mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces. (or you can leave it as a full breast)

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, then spread 1/4 cup more basil pesto over the chicken.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. (Don't cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.)

When chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and sprinkle chicken with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted. After I melted the cheese for 5 minutes I switched my oven to broil and broiled for 5 minutes more, just long enough to get the cheese lightly browned.

Serve hot.

YUMMY!