Rosemary Chicken in a Puff Pastry

Ended my weekend on a great note with this scrumptious dinner. I made this recipe once before, for a Christmas party and on a much grander scale. I don't recommend that! Waaaay too hard! However, it was a hit! But to make just 4 of them, dinner sized portions, not too bad.

Rosemary Chicken in a Puff Pastry

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 sprigs freshly chopped rosemary

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 sheets puff pastry

4 pieces Italian fontina cheese (2 in square and 1/2 inch thick)

6 Tbsp fig preserves

1 egg mixed with 1 Tbsp water, for egg wash

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Open puff pastry and leave out to thaw

Cut both chicken breasts in half in order to have 4 equal sized square portions

Season both sides of chicken with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary

Heat oil in nonstick pan over medium-high heat

Lightly brown the chicken on both sides, about 5 minutes total

Remove chicken from heat

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Cut each puff pastry sheet into quarters (totaling 8 squares)

Lay 4 puff pastry pieces on parchment paper, not touching one another

Put one cube of cheese on each square

Cover cheese with 1 1/2 Tbsp of fig preserves

Top each with 1 piece of chicken

Cover with another puff pastry square

**This is where it gets a tad tricky**

If you haven't worked with puff pastry before, it's not easy. It easily tears, which you want to avoid.

Pull each corner of the bottom puff pastry square up and over the top pastry square

Pinch the pastry together to form a completely sealed pocket

- any open areas will leak cheese and fig preserves during the cooking process -

Once sealed, brush with egg wash

Flip the pastry over and brush the tops with egg wash

After all 4 pastries are sealed and brushed with egg wash, put in oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden

I served mine with Italian bread slices brushed with extra virgin olive oil, fresh ground black pepper and chopped rosemary and toasted until crisp with a fresh dinner salad.

**The basis of this recipe came from Rachel Ray on the Food Network.

The mild creaminess of the fontina, freshness of the rosemary, sweetness of the figs and warm flakiness of the crust - what a combination of delicious flavors!