Caramelized Apple Stuffed Chicken with Fontina and Cherries is the perfect dish for fall. Marinated chicken is filled with apples that have been caramelized in butter and tossed with fontina cheese and dried cherries.
One of Bob's favorite things is to pair sweet and savory (like with this Mango Salsa). He especially loves fruit with meat, so when I saw this recipe on FoodNetwork.com, I knew he would love it. Guess what - I was right!
I've had this recipe saved on my computer for a long time (we're talking 2007 here people!), but finally got around to making it a few months ago, and I'm just getting around to posting it now!
We both thought this dish was great. The flavors all work really well together. Plus, we learned a new technique for stuffing chicken which Bob used to make a really great dinner a few weeks later. I just realized that I post a lot of "stuffed" recipes on this blog . . . hmmm
Gluten Free Option
This recipe is naturally gluten free!
📖 Recipe
Caramelized Apple Stuffed Chicken with Fontina and Cherries
Ingredients
For the Marinade:
- ½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large chicken breasts
For the Stuffing:
- 1 medium Fuji apple
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 ½ ounces fontina cheese (shredded)
- 1 ½ ounces dried cherries (roughly chopped)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Make the Marinade:
- Place the red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, the mustards, and honey in a food processor. Turn on and drizzle in the olive oil until fully incorporated (emulsified).½ tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon honey, 3 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- Marinate the chicken breasts overnight in this mixture (I did 30 minutes after reading an article in Cook's Illustrated that 30 minutes is all that's needed for marinating chicken).2 large chicken breasts
Make the Stuffing:
- Peel, core, and very roughly chop the apple. Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium/high heat and add the apples. Cook for roughly 5 to 10 minutes or until deeply browned. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixing bowl. Once cooled, add the fontina and cherries and mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper.Salt and freshly ground black pepper, ½ tablespoon unsalted butter, 1 medium Fuji apple, 1 ½ ounces fontina cheese, 1 ½ ounces dried cherries
Assemble and Bake the Chicken:
- Preheat grill or grill pan on high. Remove chicken breasts from the marinade and transfer to a plate. Season with salt and pepper. Mark the chicken breasts by grilling them only long enough to make grill marks, then rotate them about 45 degrees to make crosshatch marks. Do this on 1 side only. The chicken breasts will still be completely raw inside.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut a slit in the side of each breast (in the thicker part) about 1-inch wide, creating a pocket almost as large as the breast itself. Stuff the breasts with the apple stuffing mix - cramming in as much as possible without ripping the breast. At this point the breasts are ready to be baked or can be held in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours
- Place chicken on a baking sheet and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F in the thickest part of the breast. (Mine took longer to cook. I don't have an instant-read thermometer so I had to cut and check for pink.)
Sherri Murphy says
This is OVERT THE TOP good! I want it now!
chow and chatter says
wow what a wonderful dish
Leslie says
oh my..now this dish looks like it is exploding with flavor!
Unknown says
Mmm... I love sweet and savory too. This looks fantastic!
Kerstin says
This looks fantastic - I just saved the recipe, hopefully I'll get to it before 2011 🙂 I'm with you on stuffing things - it's fun and seems to just make everything better!
Live.Love.Eat says
Looks beautiful!!!!!!!
Bob says
Ok, that was weird for a second. I read the first sentence and thought "Well, that's true. But how did she know?!" Heh.
Looks awesome, I would totally eat that. 🙂
CaSaundraLeigh says
Yum! I love sweet and savory too!! I just recently tried my hand at stuffing chicken breasts, and now that I can do it, I will have to bookmark this recipe and try it soon--thanks!! 🙂
pigpigscorner says
I love sweet and savoury combo. This looks and sounds amazing!