1tsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
4 chicken breasts, skinless
rocket, to serve
For the pesto
75g (3oz) unsalted cashews
25g (1oz) pack fresh basil
25g (1oz) Parmesan, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
finely grated zest and juice 1/2 lemon
50ml (2 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil
For the bean mash
3 x 400g cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Start by making the pesto. In the small bowl of a food processor, pulse cashews until roughly chopped. Add basil (stalk and all), Parmesan, garlic, lemon zest and juice, oil and some seasoning. Whiz to a paste. Spoon just under half the pesto into a small bowl and set aside for the mash.
Step 2
Trim ends off courgette and, using a Y-shape vegetable peeler, peel along length of courgette to make ribbons. Put ribbons in a bowl and mix in oil.
Step 3
Cut a slit into the side of each chicken breast and using your finger, make a pocket inside each breast. Stuff remaining pesto into chicken breasts, then wrap courgette ribbons around breasts as best you can.
Step 4
Arrange chicken in a small roasting tin and cook in oven for 25min until cooked through.
Step 5
A few minutes before chicken is due to be ready, heat mash ingredients in a pan, mashing the beans slightly. Check seasoning, then marble through reserved pesto. Serve with the chicken, drizzled with a little oil, and a helping of rocket.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
