Description
This easy recipe for Chicken Parmigiana bakes crispy chicken cutlets in a rich tomato sauce under a blanket of mozzarella and parmesan cheese – the perfect budget-friendly weeknight dinner for all the family!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Tomato Sauce
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 400ml (1 1/2 cups) passata (sieved tomatoes)
- 2 large sprigs fresh basil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- sugar, to taste
For the Chicken Parm
- 2 small chicken breasts
- 4 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic granules
- 10 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- light oil
- 1 x 125g (4 1/2 oz) ball mozzarella
- 10g (1/3 oz) freshly grated parmesan
- fresh rocket, to serve
- cooked pasta, to serve
Instructions
- First, to make the tomato sauce, peel and finely slice the garlic cloves. Place them with the olive oil in the bottom of a saucepan set over a medium heat. Once the garlic is soft (but not browned) and has infused the oil, add the passata, using 100ml (a scant 1/2 cup) of water to wash out the carton or jar so no passata is left behind. Add the basil sprigs, season the sauce and bring it to the boil. Then reduce it to low and allow it to blip away whilst you make the chicken.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees (350 fahrenheit). Carefully slice the chicken breasts down the middle so that they first open like a book, then separate in two. Using the heel of your palm, bash out the chicken pieces to even thickness.
- Prepare three bowls, one with the flour, seasoned well with salt and pepper and with the garlic granules mixed in, one with the panko, and another with the beaten egg. Dip the chicken first into the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Use one hand for the egg and another for the dry ingredients to avoid breadcrumbing your own fingers!
- Heat a large frying pan over a high heat with just enough oil top cover the bottom. Once the oil is shimmering fry the chicken cutlets, one by one, until golden. Set them aside to drain off any excess oil on a kitchen paper-lined plate.
- Fish the basil leaves out of the tomato sauce and check the seasoning before spooning it into a baking dish only just big enough to nestle the chicken cutlets. Add the chicken, and top with torn mozzarella, parmesan, and a good few grinds of black pepper.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden before serving with rocket and pasta on the side.
Notes
Leftovers re-heat well and make fantastic Chicken Parm sandwiches,