Tomato Tomatoe

Chicken parmigiana

Growing up, chicken parmigiana was often on the dinner menu. My mom always makes the crispiest chicken cutlets, and I learned how to make them from a young age. I remember being alongside her in the kitchen, learning and helping out as much as I could. My grandma also used to make the best friend chicken kabobs. I don’t think these were necessarily Italian, but the chicken was always tender, juicy and crispy. She would make a massive portion of them, and I was always excited to eat them and even more excited when she would pack us with some to bring home. I really wish I knew how she made them because they were something that I looked forward to anytime she would make them.

My mom always taught me that the key to making a great chicken cutlet is to butterfly the chicken and to pound the chicken. By pounding the chicken with a meat mallet, it ensures that you will have even pieces of chicken which will cook at the same time. Typically, chicken cutlets are battered in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and then fried until golden. I find that battering and frying each individual chicken cutlet can be very time consuming, the oil makes a mess and the kitchen smells of oil once you’re done cooking. I was curious to try baking them in the oven to see if they had the same taste and crispiness. I was sceptical to try this method because I didn’t want to compromise on the taste and crispiness of the chicken cutlet. To ensure that my cutlets would be the crispiest. I made my own breadcrumbs by toasting homemade sourdough bread in the oven. Doing this creates so much flavour compared to a breadcrumb you would buy from the store. The texture is also incredible when you make your own breadcrumbs because you can control the size of the crumb. Needless to say, baking the cutlets was a great decision because they turned out crispy and golden. By baking them, you spend less time in the kitchen and there’s less of a mess to clean up. I can’t stand frying things because then you have to deal with discarding the oil and cleaning your stovetop. I really think you will love this method of making chicken cutlets. Making your own breadcrumbs is an additional step and is optional. You can definitely make this recipe using your favourite breadcrumbs from the store which would also cut the prep time in half.

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chicken parmigiana

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded thin
• 5-6 large slices of sourdough bread (skip this if using store bought breadcrumbs)
• 3-4 cups sourdough breadcrumbs (or your favourite store bought breadcrumbs)
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano + more for the top
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• fresh basil for garnish
• olive oil for drizzling
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. If you are using store bought breadcrumbs, skip this step. To make the sourdough breadcrumbs, slice the bread into cubes. Add to a baking sheet and coat in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 375° F for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Flip the croutons halfway through cooking. Allow the croutons to cool before blending them into breadcrumbs. Once the croutons have cooled, add them to a food processor with 1 tsp dried parsley. Blitz until you have a fine breadcrumb.
2. Prepare the chicken by cutting each breast in half. Lay out a piece of plastic wrap on a large cutting board and place the chicken on top. Add another piece of plastic wrap on top of the chicken. Pound the chicken with the flat side of a meat mallet until 1/4 inch thick. Season each cutlet with salt and pepper on both sides.
3. Set up the breading station. In one large dish add the flour and season with salt and pepper. The second dish will contain the eggs. Crack the eggs, beat and season with salt and pepper. The last bowl will have the breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a piece of chicken and dip it in the flour, shake off any excess. Take the cutlet and dip it on both sides in the egg dish and allow the excess to drip off. Transfer the chicken to the breadcrumbs. Press down the chicken into the breadcrumbs to ensure that every part is coated. Place the chicken on the baking sheet. Continue to batter the remaining chicken.
5. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Drizzle each chicken cutlet with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Crank the oven to 425°F and bake for another 5 minutes.
6. Add a few spoonful’s of marinara sauce to each cutlet. Sprinkle mozzarella on the sauce and add a grating of Parmigiano Reggiano.
7. Bake in the oven at 325° F for 10-15 minutes.