Baked Chicken Breast with Cheese and Onion
For some time now, I must admit I've been cooking less chicken breast. It's still my favourite, though, when I make chicken snitzel or this recipe for baked chicken breast with cheese and onions (or canned mushrooms). It's actually still snitzels, only they are baked, the cheese crust is delicious, and the onion or mushroom layer in the middle makes the chicken much more tender and tasty, not at all dry.
I cook these oven baked chicken breast slices even more often than the classic snitzels. It's less work and less smoke in the kitchen. My kids love them. We often combine them with salad or any other vegetable garnish. Interesting fact, they can be the main course or a meat appetizer, cooled and cut into smaller pieces, in addition to some meatballs.
Onions can be replaced (for those who cannot stand it) with canned mushrooms, well drained, or sauteed fresh mushrooms, finely chopped.
Grease a large baking sheet with oil.
I prefer to line the sheet with parchment, then grease the paper with oil. This way, after baking, it'll be easier to wash.
Cut / slice the chicken breasts into 2 - 3 pieces each (preferably lengthwise) and place on a cutting board.
Cover with plastic wrap so that the chicken won't break when you tenderize it.
Now pound the chicken breasts carefully with the meat hammer. Try not to overdo it, the slices shouldn't be too thin.
Arrange the breasts next to each other in the sheet we prepared at step 1.
Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper over each piece of meat.
Brush with a little mayonnaise or sour cream.
Peel an onion and chop into thin slices, or medium cubes.
Spread over the chicken.
At the end, grate the cheese over the top. Use the side with large round holes.
Place the sheet in the preheated oven at 200 C for 30 - 40 minutes or until the chicken is nicely browned.
While they are still warm, carefully separate the slices from each other with a spatula.
If you let cool in the pan, the cheese will harden and it'll be harder to split the breasts.
We really like this chicken breast served as a main course, hot, next to a salad or Mexican vegetables, mashed potatoes or other simple garnish.
But oftentimes I use it as a cold appetizer. After they have cooled, each chicken breast can be cut and served as an appetizer, in addition to meatballs or other homemade sausages. It's delicious in sandwiches, wraps etc.
Enjoy!
