When looking after your heart health, a good chicken and tomato recipe is a fabulous place to start. Lean chicken breasts smothered with tomato sauce and all the flavours of Italy. Pizzaaiola is a Neapolitan dish where meat is slow cooked with tomatoes, olive oil and garlic – all in all it’s a healthy dish with loads of pizza flavour!
The version uses sweet potato and zucchini to add a nutritional boost but you can substitute for your favourite Mediterranean veg instead. This recipe can all be made in one pan but if you don’t have an oven proof frying pan you can simply transfer into a baking dish for the final step.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 4 x skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 400g tomato puree
- 1 x red pepper, sliced
- 25g black olives, drained and sliced
- 125g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 80g low-fat mozzarella cheese sliced
- 500g small sweet potatoes, thinly sliced
- 2 large zucchinis, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Preheat oven grill to high and place an oven shelf in the center of the oven.
- Cut chicken fillets horizontally to butterfly them, season with salt and pepper and set to one side.
- In a bowl, combine oil, herbs and garlic. Add the chicken and coat in herb mixture.
- Heat a large, ovenproof frying pan (or cast iron pan) over a medium-high heat.
- Add chicken. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.
- Pour the tomato puree around the chicken in the pan and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer uncovered for a few minutes, until chicken is cooked though.
- Add the red pepper slices and olives evenly over chicken.
- Scatter with tomatoes and top with cheese slices.
- Place pan under preheated grill for about 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted and lightly browned and beginning to melt.
- In the meantime boil, steam or microwave sweet potato and zucchini separately until tender.
- Carefully remove the chicken from the oven and place the pan onto a heatproof mat or wooden board.
- To serve, place the sweet potatoes and zucchini onto plates, top with a chicken breast, drizzle with tomato mixture and serve.
Download and print this as a handy 1 page PDF from here: Newsletter recipe June 2021 heart smart chicken pizzaiola