Herb Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Artichoke Lemon Sauce

It's almost summertime, woo hoo! I wanted to try a chicken dish with a fresh lemon and here's what I came up with. Overall I thought it was good, but it was a little too zesty for me. Jeremy really liked it, but he really likes lemon and artichokes, so he liked the tang of the dish. If you like tangy flavors and lemon/artichoke try the recipe as-is. Next time I might try omitting the artichokes and just having a mushroom lemon sauce. The chicken was awesome though, I'm now in love with Laughing Cow Light cheese! The dish probably would have been fine with just grilling the chicken without stuffing and topping with the sauce, but any chance I get to stuff something with cheese, well you know... :)

HERB CHEESE STUFFED CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKE LEMON SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 wedges Laughing Cow Light Herb & Garlic cheese
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup white mushrooms, cleaned and chopped in quarters
1 cup artichoke hearts, drained
2 tablespoons I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (or regular butter if you prefer)
Juice from 1 fresh lemon
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Place each chicken breast half in a ziploc freezer bag and pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Remove chicken from bag and season chicken with salt & pepper. Place 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese in the center of each chicken breast and roll up jelly-roll fashion. Tuck in sides and secure each chicken roll with wooden picks.

4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and add chicken to pan, and cook 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Transfer to shallow baking pan and bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is done.

5. Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium high heat. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring often, 2 minutes. Add artichoke hearts , butter, lemon juice and lemon zest and toss to coat - simmer until sauce has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. To serve, remove toothpicks from chicken breast and arrange on plate, topping with a generous spoonful of mushroom artichoke mixture. Serves 2.