Pesto Chicken

This is an absolute doddle to put together, but one of those dishes that tastes as though you’ve spent hours slaving over it! 

I prefer to make this with home-made pesto (I always use Delia’s recipe, there’s a link below to it) but you could, of course, use ready-made.  If you do, use the chilled pesto in preference to the jar pesto. 

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/galleries/classic-sauces/home-made-pesto-sauce.html 

For two people I used: 

2 chicken breasts

4 slices parma ham

2dsp pesto sauce

2 or 3 basil leaves

Salt and pepper to taste 

Simply butterfly the chicken breasts, season and spread each with a dessertspoon of pesto.  Add 1 or 2 torn basil leaves and fold over the top flap of the breasts.  Wrap in the parma ham and place in a baking dish.  Drizzle them with a little olive oil and give another seasoning of ground black pepper. 

Bake in a hot oven (190^oC / 375^oF / Gas Mark 5) for 30 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through. 

You can serve this with pasta, boiled potatoes or over rice.