Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Sausage and Pecans

Title: Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Sausage and Pecans
Categories: Chicken
Yield: 6 servings

3 lg Chicken breasts, boned
1/2 ts Salt
-split and
1/4 ts Savory Pounded
4 c Dry bread crumbs (if making 1/2 lb Pork sausage, crumbled)
1/3 c Butter or margarine
1/2 c Celery, diced
1 md Onion, chopped fine
1 Egg beaten with 3 1/2 c Pecans, coarsely chopped
Melted butter or margarine for basting
Finely chopped pecans for final dusting

Brown the sausage, drain, and set aside. In the same pan, melt the butter or margarine and saute the celery and onion until soft. Add the chopped pecans, salt, pepper and savory and saute for an additional 3 minutes. Stir the sausage into the sauteed mixture and mix lightly with the bread crumbs. Add the beaten egg.

On a cookie sheet or heavy-duty foil, make 6 mounds of stuffing. Place chicken breasts, skin side up, over stuffing, tucking the edges of the chicken underneath. Brush with butter.

Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes, basting with butter. Dust with finely chopped pecans and increase the heat to 400F bake for 1 minute more. Serve with a sprig of parsley and a whole spiced crabapple.

Makes 6 servings.