How to cook chicken breasts in a skillet on stove top:
- Note: if using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil, before using them. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this drained oil for sautéing as described below:
- In a large pan, on medium heat, saute garlic and sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil) in 2 tablespoons of oil (olive oil or oil reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar – see note above) for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
- Remove sun-dried tomatoes and garlic from the pan, leaving the oil, and add chicken breasts, halved horizontally, salted and lightly covered in paprika (for colour) and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side.
- Cover the pan with the lid, remove from heat, and let the chicken sit, cooking in its own juices, off heat in a skillet, until completely cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet. Chicken could have released juices – in my case it was 1/2 cup of juices. Remove the juices from the skillet, to avoid greasiness.
How to make cream sauce:
- Add 1 cup of heavy cream to the same skillet (from which you removed the chicken and the juices). Bring to boil, add 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, immediately reduce to simmer, constantly stirring to melt the cheese, until the cheese melts.
- Add 1 cup of milk gradually, whisking until nice and smooth, while on simmer.
- Add back the cooked sun-dried tomatoes and the garlic. Add basil and crushed red pepper – mix to combine.
- Add cooked chicken breasts. Top with crumbled cooked bacon. Reheat until warm.
