Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

8 cherry tomatoes

1tbs balsamic vinegar

16 basil leaves

100g flour

2 eggs

100g breadcrumbs

30g grated parmesan

1 lemon

olive oil

salt

salt and pepper

12 toothpicks

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/250°C. Line a baking tray with foil.

2. Take your skinless, boneless chicken breasts and butterfly them by lying the chicken breast flat and using a sharp knife to cut almost all of the way into the side before opening out into the shape of a butterfly. If the chicken isn’t flat, cover with cling film and use something heavy to flatten it.

3. Place the chicken breasts into a bowl along with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and the juice and zest of one lemon. Leave to marinate for twenty minutes.

4. Thinly slice the tomatoes before adding them to a small bowl with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. Leave to marinate.

5. To stuff the chicken breasts, take one and open it out in front of you, vertically. Leave a little space around the edges, place four basil leaves, four slices of marinated tomato, and two slices of mozzarella in the middle of the breast. Fold the chicken breast closed over the filling, before securing with toothpicks. Do the same with the other three chicken breasts.

6. To cover the chicken in breadcrumbs, add the flour to one bowl and crack the eggs into a second bowl before whisking well. Add the grated parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and a pinch of pepper into a third bowl. One at a time, place each piece of chicken in the bowl with the flour, then the bowl with the eggs before, finally, the bowl with the breadcrumbs, coating each breast evenly.

7. Add olive oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet (approximately 200ml) and place on a medium heat until the oil is hot.

8. Fry the chicken breasts two at a time. Place them seam-side down in the pan, frying each side until golden brown (which should take approximately four minutes per side) before turning over and frying the other side.

9. Once cooked, place the chicken breasts on a plate covered with a sheet of kitchen roll. Repeat the process with the other two breasts before placing them all on your baking tray, cooking in the oven for five minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the cheese is melted.