Chicken Parmesan

Now this is home comfort food. I would do this any day of the week, 45 minutes from start to finish - 15 minutes for prep, 30 minutes or so for baking.  My weekly meal planning email from SO said "chicken parmesan" for Thursday. It was 5:15pm already, SO was due home by 6pm.  Small problem, forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer. I hate that. Oh well, run it under water for a bit, then defrost in the micro for a while.

Also, I love pounding meat. Ahem. Chicken breasts come so gigantically huge these days, thinning them out makes them cook much faster anyway. I found that sticking each one in a small ziplock is a great way to reduce mess. There is also plastic wrap, but I find that is messy to reuse. I also enjoy breading things. Chef Michael Smith always talks about alternating dry and wet layers - that works great. In this case, I started with flour with salt & pepper, then eggs mixed with some milk, then bread crumbs mixed with some spices like oregano, parsley, garlic and onion powders, and a bit of paprika. Bake, throw some cheese on top, back in for a bit, then serve on pasta. Voila.

Chicken Parmesan

Next Time: well I may fancy it up with home made sauce, or maybe a sharper cheese. Maybe a different type of pasta.

Me: 7.5/10
SO: 8/10
SSO: 6/10

Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts, one per person
• Spaghetti or Fettuccine, roughly 100g dry pasta per person, or however much you like
• mix 1: 1/2 C flour, salt & pepper
• mix 2: 2 eggs and a splash of milk
• mix 3: 1 C bread crumbs, 2-3 tsp oregano and parsley, 1/2 tsp garlic and onion powders, and 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 C shredded mozza or similar cheese
• 1/4 C grated parmesan

Method

1. Start the water boiling for the pasta.
2. Pound the chicken flat, maybe 1/2".
3. Rinse the chicken if necessary, let drip for a moment. Dredge in flour, then the egg mixture, then into the bread crumbs. Spray your fav baking dish with cooking spray and pop the chicken in. Bake at 400 for 15 to 30 minute depending on the thickness (check for doneness).
4. Once done, pull the chicken out and start the pasta (if it is boxed) or leave to the last minute if fresh..
5. Spoon your fav spaghetti sauce on the chicken, then layer with mozza and parmesan. Return to the oven for 10 minutes or until melted and hot.
6. Serve over pasta.