Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Goat Cheese

I first had this chicken in a local restaurant and fell in love with it. A large dollop of herbed goat cheese on top of a breaded chicken cutlet, topped with a drizzle of lemon piccata sauce. Its great served on a bed of arugula salad for a light meal, or served with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable for dinner.

TIPS: If I am in a rush I do not bother with the piccata sauce and its still very good. If you do not like goat cheese, Boursin cheese works well here too. For the piccata sauce recipe, go to my Chicken Piccata recipe and just make the sauce by itself, to drizzle on top of this chicken.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Goat Cheese

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts pounded to 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • 3/4 C flour
  • 3/4 C half and half or light cream
  • 1 C breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 C grated parmesan
  • 1 tsp each of fresh rosemary, thyme, and chives chopped
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese (or herb Boursin cheese)
  • chopped fresh parsley (optional)
  • Piccata Sauce (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray, or alternatively, cover baking sheet with parchment paper if not using wire rack.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, fresh herbs and 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
  • Put flour, half and half and breadcrumb mixture into 3 separate bowls for dredging the chicken.
  • Salt and pepper the chicken breasts on both sides. Dredge each chicken breast in the flour and shake off the excess. Dip the floured breasts into the half and half and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Press to adhere.
  • Heat the butter and oil in a large non-stick fry pan, over medium high heat, until hot. Add the chicken and sauté until lightly golden brown on one side. (Let chicken brown mostly undisturbed. Do not keep moving it around unless one edge is browning too fast if your heat is uneven). Turn chicken over, redistributing the oil/butter mixture evenly in pan as you do, and cook the other side until lightly golden brown. Remove chicken and place on sheet pan. Put in the oven to finish cooking through, about 8-10 minutes, depending on thickness of your chicken. Cook until breast is 165 degrees.
  • Remove chicken from the oven. Top chicken with a tablespoon sized dollop of goat cheese (or boursin) in the center of the breast. (If chicken is very large you may need a two dollops, one near each end). Cover loosely with foil and let sit for 5 minutes to allow cheese to soften slightly.
  • Top with fresh parsley to serve (optional). Drizzle with a lemon piccata sauce (optional). See link in TIPS for recipe.
  • Enjoy!