Feta-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Feta-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
adapted from BHG

1 tablespoon snipped dried tomatoes (not oil-packed) or oven roasted tomatoes (see comments below)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons softened cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place tomatoes in a small bowl. Cover with boiling water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry; set aside. Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut a pocket in each chicken breast by cutting horizontally through the thickest portion to, but not through, the opposite side; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine feta, cream cheese, basil, and tomatoes. Spoon about 1 rounded tablespoon into each chicken pocket. If necessary, secure openings with wooden toothpicks. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large oven-proof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, cook until browned, flip over, and cook on second side until browned. Move skillet to the preheated oven and bake until chicken is no longer pink and registers 170F on an instant read thermometer, about 25 minutes.

**My Notes: I did not have dried tomatoes so I very thinly sliced one Roma tomato, placed the slices on a cookie sheet and drizzled olive oil on top. Then I put them in the oven on broil until they began to dry out and slightly darken. I thought I would need to chop the tomato even more before adding it to the cheese mixture but the tomato blended nicely.