in a medium sized bowl, add room temp chicken breasts then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Toss until everything is coated and then set aside.

Heat a large heavy bottomed pan (such as an enameled cast iron braiser) over medium-high and add 2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until brown. They do not need to be cooked through at this point.

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and immediately add onion, red pepper flakes and a little bit of salt and stir - cooking for 2-3 minutes while scraping up all the chicken bits in the bottom of the pan.

Now add the cherry tomatoes (and a little bit more olive oil if needed) and continue cooking until they burst and blister then add chopped garlic and cook it down for another 3-4 minutes until softened and fragrant.

Then add in a can of crushed tomatoes, ⅓ cup heavy cream, 3 tablespoon salted butter and half the basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes until simmering.

Add in the chicken, cover and cook for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Once the chicken is done, it’s time to serve. I recommend topping each piece with a few fresh mozzarella pearls and the remaining chopped basil.