Culinary Disasters

This dish is not called parmesan because it contains Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in fact it gets its name from Parma, the region of Italy where it originated from.  However, I love to add some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to the breadcrumb mixture because how can you go wrong with adding more cheese to a dish?  The cheese in the breadcrumbs also helps give it a great crunch. 

This is also a very simple dish to make.

For this recipe you will need:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups of your favorite tomato sauce
• Couple slices of mozzarella cheese or about 1 cup shredded. 
• 1 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 cup of flour
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 2 TB of extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 TB of unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

I decided to try another way of pounding out chicken breasts that turned out to be quicker and easier.  Slice the chicken breasts in half and then pound each half out to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Make sure to cover the chicken breast with parchment paper or saran wrap.

Set up a 3 stage breading station with the flour being in one bowl, the beaten egg in another bowl, and the bread crumbs mixed with 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in another bowl.

Place the flattened chicken breast in the flour and shake off the excess.  Coat the floured chicken breast in the egg and then finally cover it in the breadcrumb/cheese mixture. 

In a large skillet over medium add in the extra virgin olive oil and butter.  Once the butter has melted add in the breaded chicken breasts.

Brown the chicken for a couple minutes each side and remove from the pan.  Add in 1 cup of the tomato sauce and stir around to free up anything that is stuck from the bottom of the pan.

Add the chicken back into the pan and then top with the remaining 1 cup of tomato sauce.  Top the chicken with mozzarella cheese and then the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Place in the oven until the cheese has melted (about 5 minutes).

When plating I sprinkled some chopped parsley over the top along with (you guessed it) more Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Tags: chicken, All //