Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella

This dish is probably one of the most exotic I have made in my entire life...so fasten your seatbelt. A Pinterest inspired meal that should have had left-overs, but didn't.

Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 cups (1 medium) zucchini, shredded - more zucchini than less, and food processors work great!

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Romano Cheese (or parmesan) - I used shredded parmesan

3 ox part skim shredded mozzarella

salt and pepper to taste

8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each - try to get nice wide flat cutlets

1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1 lemon, juice of (I just used lemon juice, about 1/4 cup)

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and fresh pepper

olive oil non-stick spray

Preheat oven to 450°. Lightlyspray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

Warm up a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add oil when hot then saute garlic a minute, or until golden. Add zucchini, 1/4 cup Romano cheese (or in my case parmesan), salt and pepper and saute about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool. When cool, add mozzarella cheese and mix to combine.

Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread a generous amount (3 tbsp was recommended, but I found I could not get that much to stay packed in) of zucchini-cheese mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and keep seam side down.

Combine breadcrumbs and grated cheese (more parmesan for me!) in one bowl; in a second bowl combine olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper in another bowl.

Dip chicken in lemon-oil mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down in a baking dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spraywith oil spray. 

Bake 25 - 30 minutes.

Now, as nice as these little guys turned out, I couldn't help but think of how lonely they would look on a plate, so I cooked up some tasty taters!

First I started with caramelizing some red onions...

*Caramelized Red Onions*

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 -1/2 large red onion chopped (love my vidalia chopper!)

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Optional: 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Melt butter with olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until deep golden brown, stirring frequently, about 30 minutes. Stir in vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from heat. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before serving.) Stir in chives.

And THAT is the way to make delicious caramelized red onions....although in the directions when it says "remove from heat" if you are making spectacular cooked potatoes, do not "remove from heat". Dump in your previously peeled and cubed (bite-size) potatoes -- prepare while onions are caramelizing -- then cover and let cook for an additional 15-25 min, depending on how soft you like your potatoes. I like mine soft so I left mine on for a while, although you want to stir every few minutes. Serve and enjoy with ketchup, ranch dressing, or just with your tasty Chicken Rollatini and a tossed salad! These two dishes are an awesome combo because the two actually can cook rather well in synchronization, use the oven and stove and the timing is almost perfect!