lil carb Pesto Mozzarella Chicken

I just love summer! The sun is hot, pools are open, grills are smokin', and herbs are flourishing!  What's not to love?!  Speaking of herbs I recently made homemade basil pesto.  Now I usually wouldn't do much with it, just serve it along side a crusty baguette and call it a day. But with trying to stay away from loaves of bread and carbs in general I decided to take the pesto and incorporate it into my basil mozzarella chicken.  With the pop of the pesto and the creaminess of the cheese I bet you will be wishing it was summer all year round!

I start with marinating my chicken for about an hour using my lemon n garlic chicken marinade.  You can skip this step but I love the underlying lemon flavor on the chicken. I think it works really great with the pesto!  That marinade is also a great starter and you can take the meal in many different directions.  If you skip the marinade just make sure you salt and pepper your chicken before sautéing or grilling it.
Which brings me to my next step- cook your chicken however you prefer. I used boneless skinless breasts and sautéed them until they were cooked through.

Next, I placed the cooked chicken on a foil lined baking sheet and topped it with about 1 tablespoon of my home made pesto!  Get my recipe HERE! Then I topped the pesto with a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. Just thinking about this chicken makes my mouth water. Look at that!! Beautiful!

Look at those beautiful colors! Not only is this chicken super flavorful but its a really gorgeous dish.

Now, you can eat the chicken just like this. I almost did because I was so hungry but I popped mine in under the broiler and watched it carefully for a few minutes until the cheese was bubbly and just starting to brown.

Perfection! 

Simple and fresh ingredients at its best!!!

Pesto Mozzarella Chicken- Serves 2

Optional Marinade

2 large bonesless skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise

4 Tbsp pesto, jarred or use my homemade recipe

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

To start off trim up the chicken, mine was super thick so I cut it in half lengthwise.  

The next step is optional- marinate the chicken for about an hour using my garlic n lemon chicken marinade.  If you choose not to marinate the chicken that's fine!  Just make sure to salt and pepper the chicken.

Next step is up to you again- grill the chicken or sauté it.

Once it is cooked place it on a foil lined baking tray.

Top with 1 tablespoon of pesto on each piece then top with about 1/8 cup of mozzarella cheese.

Broil for a few minutes until the cheese is just turning brown.