Transport yourself to a late summer evening in Italy with this deliciously melty take on Caprese flavors. Insalata Caprese, or Caprese Salad, originated in the 1950s on the Italian island of Capri and is traditionally made with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, olive oil, and basil. In this recipe, we’ve rounded out the plate with some chicken and pasta to bump up this appetizer to a fully satisfying meal.
Caprese Chicken
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus 1/4 cup, divided
- 4 oz fresh spinach, chopped
- 1 ½ lbs chicken breast (4 servings)
- 10 oz cherry tomatoes
- 8 oz fusilli pasta
- 6 oz pesto sauce
- 2 oz fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 2 oz red pepper flakes
Directions
1) Combine 4 oz chopped spinach with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese in a medium bowl. Cut a pocket into chicken breast and stuff with mozzarella and spinach mixture. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper, then vacuum seal. Place chicken in a Suvie pan, cover with water, and load into bottom zone of Suvie.
2) Place cherry tomatoes in another Suvie pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Load into top cooking zone. Input cook settings and set to Cook Now or Schedule.
Suvie Cook Settings
Bottom Zone: Sous Vide at 155°F for 1 hour
Top Zone: Sous Vide at 155°F for 1 hour
3) Put 8 oz pasta in the Suvie starch strainer set within the Suvie pasta pot (green handles). Place pot in the Suvie Starch Cooker, ensuring pot is centered on the hot plate. Close the door, input settings, and cook now or schedule.
Suvie Starch Cooker Settings
Pasta, 4 cups, 10 minutes
4) After the cook, remove chicken breast from Suvie pan, pat pan and chicken dry, and return chicken to pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese over the chicken. Return chicken to Suvie and broil chicken and tomatoes for 10 minutes, checking halfway through to see if pans need to be rotated.
5) During broil, toss half of the pesto with pasta in a large bowl until evenly coated.
6) After broiling, remove chicken and tomatoes from Suvie. Divide pasta and tomatoes between plates, top with a chicken breast and extra pesto. Garnish with fresh basil and red pepper flakes.
Nutrition
Nutritional Information per serving (4 servings per recipe): Calories 770, Total Fat 36g, Total Carbohydrates 53g, Total Sodium 680mg, Total Protein 60g
I haven’t tried this recipe but it’s on my list for this week – just to clarify though, the tomatoes are set to sous vide for an hour at the same time as the chicken, even though they aren’t in a vacuum sealed bag or in water? Thank you!!
Suvie Cook Settings: Bottom Zone: Sous Vide at 155°F for 1 hour, Top Zone: Sous Vide at 155°F for 1 hour
Hi Stephanie, yes, the tomatoes are set to sous vide for an hour at 155 in the pan even though they aren’t in water or in vacuum sealed packaging. They won’t obviously sous vide, but they will soften up.