Stuffed chicken roll ups – delicious and easy to make, stuffed with pesto, prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese, then smothered in creamy garlicky pesto sauce, topped with Mozzarella, and baked to perfection!



What do you do when your oven suddenly starts acting up, and becomes totally unpredictable? Well, you start planning for a kitchen remodel – that’s what!

Yes, this has been long coming, but since it’s such a daunting project that requires all your energy, money and endurance, summoned up for months, we’ve been procrastinating, and I’ve been putting up with the annoying everyday discomforts of my kitchen. But when the central, most important object in the kitchen gives up on you, it suddenly catapults this idea to the top of the agenda list. Suddenly, I need to put on my ‘interior designer’ hat, and re-direct my creative energy elsewhere (away from the blog, I mean). So if I seem a little spacey these days, you know where my mind is. Not to mention that I might not be able to cook for a long time, and in the best case, will be forced to improvise in the garage or the backyard. Ugh…am I really ready for this? I just wish it doesn’t stretch beyond the 3-month mark, that I hear is pretty common for kitchen remodels.

So these stuffed chicken roll ups may be the last oven-cooked meal before the big bang. They are a family favorite, and a recipe I like to prepare when I expect guests. Despite the sophisticated look, they are surprisingly easy to make, and so delicious, they may become your family favorite too. The dominant flavor is Italian – think pesto, goat cheese, prosciutto, tomatoes – all wrapped up in juicy chicken meat, and smothered in creamy garlicky sauce, then topped with Mozzarella for a nice, cheesy, bubbly crust! Who can really resist that? And this yummy sauce begs to be served over pasta, but if you decide to serve it with say, roasted asparagus on the side, it will look even more elegant and fancy.

It takes no more than 15-20 minutes to roll up 8 chicken strips, then 20-30 minutes more in the oven, to finish off. My time-saving tip? Get chicken strips, instead of chicken breast!

For years I’ve been making stuffed chicken, by using the whole chicken breast, and rolling into a giant roll up. But recently, I started buying the chicken strips instead, and they are so much easier to handle – just a couple of bangs with the mallet are all you need to get the perfect size, leave-shape piece of meat. Not only it saves you time and effort, but it makes nicer, smaller individual portions which cook faster, and more evenly.

I used my all time favorite slow-roasted tomatoes here, but you can substitute with store-bought sun-dried tomatoes. Just be sure to drain all the oil before using. And one final note of caution – since the prosciutto and pesto are salty, you might want to ease up on the salt overall. (This comes from a person who holds the fork in one hand, and the salt shaker in the other!)