Pesto Roasted Chicken Breast with Tomatoes, Asparagus and Mozzarella

Too good to believe it’s a one-pan meal.

I often choose chicken thighs over chicken breasts because they’re so moist, and sometimes, roasted chicken breasts come out of the oven dry and chewy—but not these!! Starting with chicken breast filets, and tenderizing them so that the thickness of the chicken is even and uniform, makes ALL the difference. When they come out of the oven, they will be tender, juicy and oh so delicious!!

This recipe takes very little time to throw together; plus, it tastes like something you’d order from a fancy restaurant, so it’s a win-win all the way around.

I love using pesto for beef, chicken and pasta. You can also mix it in with spaghetti squash for an extremely delicious meal. It is heavy on the basil and garlic with a little salt and olive oil, which is why with this recipe, you don’t need much else to get a whole lot of flavor. When you pesto with the roasted tomatoes and asparagus, the result is quite magical! I have no doubt you will fall in love with this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breast filets, tenderized so that all pieces are uniform in thickness

• 1 jar of pesto sauce

• 1 pint grape tomatoes

• 14 asparagus spears, rough ends chopped off

• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

• 1/5 cup grated parmesan cheese

• pinch of salt

• freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray 9x13 pan with nonstick spray.

• After tenderizing the chicken, place in pan and spoon pesto sauce over chicken until well-coated.

• Season meat with a pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

• Top with parmesan cheese.

• Slice grape tomatoes in half and place in pan with chicken.

• Chop thickest ends off asparagus spears and place on top of chicken and tomatoes.

• Roast in oven for 30 minutes.

• Remove pan and top with mozzarella cheese; then, place chicken back in oven and roast for another 10-15 minutes until chicken is done.