Couscous-Stuffed Chicken

Anita went on and on about just how much she loved this main course. The couscous is insanely good, and the sauce over the chicken ties everything together very well.


The original recipe called for 4 chicken breasts. I ended up using just two very large ones, and keeping the couscous and sauce quantities as they were originally written. Depending on how large your chicken is, you might want to adjust how many you use.

Makes: 4 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

For the couscous:

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 t (or more, to taste) red pepper flakes
• 4 T sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 4 T kalamata olives, chopped
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 10 oz box couscous
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

For the chicken:

• 4 medium-sized chicken breasts (or two large)
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T butter

For the sauce:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 6 T sun-dried tomatoes, drained and julienned
• 4 T kalamata olives, chopped
• 2 T butter
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled, for garnish

To make the couscous:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute.

2. Add the sun-dried tomatoes. Stir, and saute 2 minutes.

3. Add the olives and stock. Bring to a boil. Add the couscous. Stir. Remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes.

4. Fluff. Take 2 cups of the couscous and spread out on a plate to cool. Once cool, mix in 4 ounces of feta. Keep remaining couscous covered and warm.

For the chicken:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Make a slit in each chicken breast. Stuff with cooled couscous. Remove any couscous that sticks to the outside of the chicken as it will burn when sauteed. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat oil and butter in a saute pan over high heat. Add chicken and brown on both sides.

3. Transfer chicken to a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Add the reserved couscous to the oven the last 10 minutes of baking to warm it.

For the sauce:

1. Add garlic to the saute pan used to brown the chicken.

2. Deglaze pan with wine. Add the lemon juice and let reduce by half.

3. Add sun-dried tomatoes and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add olives, remove from heat, and add the butter. Stir.

Serve chicken topped with sauce and more feta, along with warmed couscous.