Chicken Parm

To quote Anthony Bourdain in Egypt - "There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy." I couldn't have said it better. :) I don't know why I never tried to make this before, but I am determined to try everything in my Great Food Fast cookbook, and so I continue my quest. I had some Chicken Parmigiana at Chez Sameera once, and it was delicious. But then, everything she makes is delicious! So I tried my hand at it, using a recipe from the book, though Sameera's cookbook has a similarly good recipe which is slightly different (she adds some italian seasoning to the coating and adds sauce over the chicken as well before baking instead of broiling). The recipe below is a slight variation on the version in the Great Food Fast book.

Chicken Parmigiana

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breast

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 cups jarred tomato sauce

4 tbsp. olive oil

6 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

Directions

1. Prepare the chicken: Slice the chicken breasts into cutlets that are 1/2-inch thick. If your slices are too thick, try pounding them flat, while they are covered by plastic wrap, with a meat mallet or the bottom of a small saucepan. I deal with unevenly shaped breasts by butterflying them where they are too thick, which means you cut it horizontally almost all the way through, and then open it up to lay flat (making sure the halves are still connected). You can really make each cutlet any size you want, either 1 portion per cutlet or 1/2 a portion.

2. Turn on the broiler.

3. Coat the chicken: Combine the breadcrumbs and Parmesan in a shallow bowl. Crack open the egg in another dish. Season both sides of each chicken cutlet with a dash of salt and pepper. Dip each cutlet in the egg, let the excess egg drip off, and then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture, turning to coat both sides evenly.

4. Spread the tomato sauce (add a little water if necessary) onto a rimmed baking sheet or dish(10 x 15-inch is fine). Heat 2 tbsp. of the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place half of the chicken cutlets in the skillet. Cook until golden, 1-2 minutes on each side. Transfer the browned chicken to the baking dish, placing them on top of the sauce. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp. of oil and repeat with the remainder of the chicken.

5. Top each cultlet with a slice of mozzarella. Broil about 4 inches from the heat source until the sauce is hot and cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots, about 5-8 minutes.

6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and spoon over some of the tomato sauce from the baking sheet. Serve with a light salad dressed with oil, vinegar, and lemon juice, or a side of pasta.