Lighter Oven-Baked Chicken Kiev

📝 Ingredients

• 4 thick chicken breasts (about 150 g each)
• 40 g softened unsalted butter + 60 g plain cream cheese
• 3 garlic cloves + 15 g fresh parsley
• 30 g plain flour
• 1 egg
• 80 g breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp olive oil (1 for the breadcrumbs, 1 for the potatoes)
• 800 g potatoes (about 4 medium)
• 400 g frozen green beans
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• 2 baking trays + baking paper
• Frying pan
• Small pointed knife
• 3 shallow bowls
• Saucepan + colander
• Cocktail sticks and cling film

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Make the garlic butter: with a fork, mash the softened butter with the cream cheese, crushed garlic, finely chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Shape into 4 small 5 cm logs in cling film and put them in the freezer for 20 min.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the breadcrumbs and stir constantly for 3 to 4 min, until evenly golden. Tip them straight into a shallow bowl: this is what gives a lovely golden crust in the oven, without frying.
3. Wash the potatoes well and, without peeling, cut them into 2 to 3 cm cubes. Toss them on a baking tray lined with baking paper with 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper, in a single layer. Roast for 40 min in total.
4. With a small pointed knife, cut into each breast from the thickest side and make a deep pocket along almost the whole length, without piercing the edges. When the butter is quite hard, slip one log into each pocket and close with one or two cocktail sticks.
5. Put the flour in a shallow bowl and the egg, beaten with a pinch of salt, in another. Coat each breast in the flour, tapping off the excess, then in the egg, then in the golden breadcrumbs, pressing with your palm so they stick all over, especially around the opening.
6. Place the breaded breasts on the second baking tray lined with baking paper and put them in the oven once the potatoes have cooked for 15 min (give the potatoes a stir at the same time). Bake for 25 min, until the crust is crisp and the chicken firm to the touch, or 74 °C in the centre.
7. Meanwhile, cook the frozen green beans for 8 to 10 min in a pan of boiling salted water, until tender but still bright green. Drain, then season with salt and pepper.
8. Leave the breasts to rest for 3 min, then remove the cocktail sticks. Serve with the roast potatoes and green beans. Careful when cutting the chicken: the hot garlic butter runs out onto the plate, and that's the whole point of a Kiev.