Italiaanse kip in bakpapier (Hip Kip and Vitatas)

Last week I got lucky: chicken breasts were on sale!! So I bought a kilo and popped them into the fridge. Finally a chance to try out a recipe from my cookbook Hip Kip!!

After long deliberation I decided on Italian Chicken in Parchment.

This recipe is supersimple and perfect for a dinner party, because

the packages can be prepared in advance!

I don't really care for black olives and decided to leave them out. Instead I used the fennel

from my Vitatas. Whilst baking the kitchen filled with the wonderfull smell of pesto, courgette, tomatoes and fennel....

The chicken thighs were cooked to absolut perfection.

The chicken was still moist, not dry at all. I never thought of combining pesto with lemon juice,

but this was soooooo nice!!!



Italian Chicken in Parchment (4 servings)

1 lemon, scrubbed clean
1 courgette
4 chicken fillets
250 grams cherry tomatoes
4 tbsp black olives (I substituted these with the fennel)
4 tbsp pesto

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Put the sheets of baking paper on the counter. Zest the lemon and squeeze it.

Slice the courgette into thin slices, cut the fennel into quarters and slice thinly. Mix them with the lemon zest and some pepper and salt. Place the courgettemixture in the center of the baking sheets and divide evenly over the four sheets.

Cut the chicken (schuin) into four pieces (I did 5 pieces....), top with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the chicken over the courgettemixture. Divide the cherry tomatoes and olives over the chicken and spread one tablespoon of pesto over each chicken (I left out the olives). Drizzle some lemonjuice over the chicken

Fold the paper into a package and place the packages onto a baking sheet. Slide the sheet into the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Place the packages on a plate. Open at the table. Great in combination with gnocci.