Chicken and Mozzarella Melts

This Wednesday the Moms from our Playgroup are getting together for a new recipes night. We are all bringing an Italian dish with copies of the recipes we make. We will have dinner together sampling from all the dishes. Everyone leaves with a mini cookbook of all the recipes everyone brought. Since there are sure to be a lot of pasta dishes I decided to try something different and make a chicken sandwich. I got the recipe from a cookbook I borrowed from my Mom. Tonight Curt and I tested them just to make sure they were edible and we were both pleasantly surprised. They tasted like a sandwich you would have at some fancy little cafe where they put mint leaves in your tea.

• 2 cloves of Garlic, crushed
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (3/4 lb)
• nonstick cooking spray
• 1/8 tsp of salt (I didn't use)
• 1/8 tsp of pepper (used but didn't measure)
• 1 TBS prepared pesto sauce (used classico brand from the spaghetti sauce aisle)
• 4 small hard rolls split (I used Ciabatta rolls)
• 12 fresh spinach leaves
• 8 basil leaves* optional (didn't use)
• 3 plum tomatoes (used vine ripe tomatoes b/c we had them already)
• 1/2 C. (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Makes 4 Servings

*Omit Basil leaves of fresh are unavailable. DO NOT substitute dried basil leaves.

1. Preheat Oven to 350*F. Rub Garlic on all surfaces of Chicken (I crushed the garlic with a knife handle and then used a Ziploc bag as a glove while I rubbed the chicken so my hands wouldn't smell like garlic when I was done.) Spray medium nonstick with cooking spray; heat over medium heat until hot. Add chicken; cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side until no longer pink in the center. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (I only used pepper and sprinkled it on while the chicken was cooking)
2. Brush pesto sauce on bottom halves of rolls; layer with spinach, basil*, and tomatoes Place chicken on rolls; sprinkle with cheese evenly over chicken. (If desired sandwiches may be prepared up to this point and wrapped in aluminum foil. Refrigerate until ready to bake. Bake in a preheated 350*F oven until chicken is warm about 20 minutes.)
3. Wrap Sandwiches in aluminum foil; bake about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.