A low carb chicken recipe. Cut down on pesto used and can be waist friendly too.
- Carbohydrate 0 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 1.68750000072367 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 0 g
- Saturated Fat 0.233010000099924 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (115g)
- Sodium 0.0337500000144734 mg
- Sugar 0 g
- Trans Fat 0.0456975000195973 g
- Calories 15 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat the olive oil to medium heat in a large skillet
- Place a thin chicken cutlet on a cutting board, spread with 1 tbsp of pesto and 1 tbsp of shredded parmesan.
- Roll the chicken cutlet and secure with a toothpick if needed. (I secured all of mine with a toothpick, then removed them half way through cooking them and they stayed perfectly rolled up)
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and add to pan.
- Cook chicken until light golden brown and cooked all the way through about 6-8 minutes. Turning frequently to ensure even browning. Repeat until all pieces are cooked. I added several to the pan at a time and it took me 2 batches to get them all cooked.
- Serve with lemon wedges and just before eating sprinkle some lemon juice over the chicken. The lemon accentuates the flavor of the basil and makes it a 5 star dish.
Standard ingredient lists rarely reveal how flexible a dish becomes when you alter its baseline yields. Pesto roll-ups require careful proportioning because spreading too much sauce or cheese onto thin chicken cutlets makes rolling impossible and causes the filling to spill into the skillet before the meat browns.
Scaling this preparation upward or downward requires maintaining a strict ratio of one tablespoon of sauce and one tablespoon of cheese per cutlet. Doubling the recipe from four servings to eight means purchasing two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but it rarely requires doubling the oil; a wide skillet easily accommodates multiple batches using the same two tablespoons of fat, provided the pan temperature remains at medium heat to prevent scorching.
Slicing thick chicken breasts into uniform thin cutlets dictates the success of the roll. Pound uneven sections gently with a meat mallet until every piece measures roughly one-quarter inch thick, ensuring the interior cooks within the six-to-eight-minute window before the exterior burns. Securing each cylinder with a wooden toothpick prevents unravelling during the initial flip, though these can safely be extracted halfway through cooking once the protein contracts and sets its shape.
Extra cooked portions keep well in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheating leftover chicken rolls requires a low-temperature environment—such as a 300-degree oven for ten minutes—to warm the interior without drying out the lean white meat or over-rendering the parmesan cheese.
