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Who doesn’t love Chicken Parmesan? Well, besides vegetarians, whom we can only pity. Chicken Parmesan is one of the most popular Italian cuisine inspired dishes in the world. It is so easy to make and so popular, it is pretty much a guaranteed hit no matter the occasion. It is a nice and easy meal to prepare just for yourself or immediate family, and is a quick, easy and beautiful dish appropriate for even the fanciest dinner parties.

This recipe is designed for two large chicken breast. If you are using smaller breasts, or more or less, you can easily adjust the recipe accordingly.

-Ingredients-

2 large Chicken Breasts

The tenderloin should be removed.

1 cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs

I usually make my own (recipe to come), but any store bought kind is fine for this recipe. This amount is just an approximation. You may use a bit more or less.

1 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese

If you use the fresh kind of mozzarella, which I actually recommend, you will want to cut it into small cubes, since it doesn’t grate well. Again, this amount is only an approximation. Just use enough to generously cover the chicken breasts.

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Use Parmigiano-Reggiano if you can. This is the real Parmesan Cheese.

1 Egg

Sometimes you might need two.

1 cup Tomato Sauce

It can be used cold.

You can use any sauce that you like, homemade or store bought, just make sure that it is not a watery sauce. You want it to hold its shape for the most part when it bakes. My tomato sauce is perfect for this recipe.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Enough to cover the bottom of the pan in which you will fry the chicken.

-Method-

Preheat your oven to 450.

You want to flatten the chicken breast. You can do this by butterflying it or pounding it. I do either one, but this time I am pounding it. The way I do this is to place a large piece of saran wrap onto the counter, place the chicken breast onto the plastic, and fold the plastic over the top of the chicken. Now the chicken is completely surrounded by plastic wrap so when you pound it you won’t get little chicken bits flying all over the place. Pound the breast with the flat side of a meat hammer to flatten it until it is nice and thin.

Place the breadcrumbs into a large bowl and add half of the Parmesan Cheese (so 1/8 cup). Mix the cheese into the breadcrumbs.

Crack The egg into a bowl and whisk it.

Now you are going to coat the chicken breast in breadcrumbs. Most people use flour for the first coat, then dip in egg, then breadcrumbs. I find that the breadcrumbs stay on the breast just as well if you make the first coat breadcrumbs, so since this means you get more of those flavourful breadcrumbs on your bread, this is the way I do it.

Take your chicken breast and coat it very well with breadcrumbs. Shake off any loose crumbs and dip the breast into the egg. Coat the entire breast well with the egg. Now dip the breast into the breadcrumbs again and coat it very well.

Repeat with the other breast.

Pour enough extra virgin olive oil into a pan to coat the bottom well. Don’t be stingy with it. You need plenty of oil to cook the breast. Turn the heat up to medium and give it a couple of minutes to heat up.

When the oil is ready place the breasts into the hot oil and fry lightly, just until both sides are light golden brown. Do not cook the chicken all the way through. At this point you just want to put colour onto the bread crumbs. About two minutes per side is usually perfect.

Place the lightly browned breasts into a baking dish. Cover each breast with a half cup of sauce, about a half cup of mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle both with the remaining Parmesan cheese. I did not include it in the ingredients, but I also like to give it a light sprinkle of parsley as well. This is mostly just for presentation.

Place the chicken into your hot oven (at 450 degrees), uncovered, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

You will know that it is done when at least 15 minutes have passed and the cheese is slightly golden. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for at least five minutes before serving.

Serve with a salad, or pasta, or even on a sandwich! Om nom nom!

 -Printable Version-