An elegant, effortless centrepiece that tastes like it took all day.
There’s a particular kind of dinner party dish that looks far more impressive than the effort it actually demands — and this is exactly that dish. Butterflied chicken breasts, stuffed with a generous spoonful of our Smoked Olive Tapenade and a crumble of creamy chèvre, seared until golden, and finished in the oven alongside sweet cherry tomatoes that collapse into a glossy, jammy sauce. It’s the kind of thing you pull out of the oven and everyone leans in.
The tapenade and chèvre are made for each other. The goat cheese brings a cool, tangy creaminess that melts as it cooks, softening the bold edges of the smoked olives and sun-dried tomatoes into something rich and almost silky. The capers and lemon keep things bright, the garlic is present but not pushy, and the cold smoke weaves through everything — giving the chicken a depth of flavour you simply can’t achieve with a marinade or a spice rub.
This recipe serves four, comes together in under an hour, and requires only one oven-safe skillet. That’s the kind of maths we like for a dinner party.
Fume-eh was born from a single bite at a restaurant in San Francisco — smoked olives that stopped us in our tracks and sent us straight to the kitchen when we got home. We’re trained chefs and lifelong food people, and we couldn’t find anything like it on a shelf anywhere. So we made our own. Everything we produce is cold-smoked in small batches in British Columbia, using traditional techniques and no shortcuts. The smoke is real, the ingredients are whole, and the flavour speaks for itself.
Serves 4 · ~50 minutes · One skillet
Ingredients
- 4 large boneless, skin-on chicken breasts
- 4 heaping tablespoons Fume-eh Smoked Olive Tapenade
- 100g (3.5 oz) fresh chèvre, crumbled
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- Fresh thyme — a few sprigs
- Flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Fresh basil to finish
Method
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Using a sharp knife, cut a deep pocket into the thickest side of each chicken breast — go almost all the way through without cutting out the other side. Season generously inside and out with salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl, stir together the Smoked Olive Tapenade and crumbled chèvre until just combined — you want it mixed but still a little rustic, with visible bits of cheese throughout. Taste it. Try not to eat it all straight from the bowl.
- Spoon a generous tablespoon of the tapenade-chèvre mixture into each pocket. Press the opening closed firmly and secure with a toothpick. The stuffing should feel full — don’t hold back.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the chicken breasts skin-side down for 4–5 minutes until deeply golden. Flip and sear the other side for 2 minutes.
- Scatter the sliced garlic and cherry tomatoes around the chicken in the pan. Add the white wine and thyme sprigs. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the tomatoes.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 18–22 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F / 74°C) and the tomatoes have collapsed into a loose, fragrant sauce.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon the pan juices and roasted tomatoes generously over the chicken. Finish with torn fresh basil and a pinch of flaky salt.
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