Hubby's Request

It was shortly before five this afternoon when I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner (as I usally do). He told me he was thinking of chicken parmesan. I had planned on doing some asian food for tonight but since hubby wants chicken parmesan, then chicken parmesan it is. I don't mind though, since I love the dish and I had not made it in a while too.

Thankfully, I have all the ingredients except for the chicken breast (skinless, boneless). So that was the only thing I made a quick stop in the grocery for..... and oh, some fresh basil too.

Chicken parmesan is a complicated dish to make but I learned some short-cuts on how to do a quicker but still delicious version of it. Chicken Parmesan
3 tablespoons olive oil plus for frying plus 2 tbsp for the chicken
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 (3-ounces each) chicken cutlets
1 1/2 cups Tomato Sauce or purchased marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup teaspoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsely, for garnish

For the breading:
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pound chicken with a mallet until it's about 1/4 inches thick. Carefully do this so as not to tear the meat.
3. Stir the oil and herbs in a small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the cutlets with the herb oil.
4. Heat an oven-proof skillet over high heat. Add 1 tbsp of butter and 3 tsps of olive oil.
5. In another bowl, combine your ingredients for breading, then dredge your chicken with it.
6. When oil/butter is hot, start sauteeing your chicken. Cook until golden brown. (If you don't have an oven-proof skillet, then this is the time to transfer the chicken to your GREASED baking casserole)
7. Then spoon marinara over and around the chicken. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese atop the cutlets. Cut up the remaining 1 tbsp butter into small pieces and scatter them over the cutlets.
8. Transfer your skillet into the oven and bake chicken until cheese melts and cooked through, about 10 minutes. At the last 2 minutes, set your oven to broil inorder to brown the cheese. Watch it closely.
9. Serve garnished with chopped parsely.

To be honest, I usually make my own marinara when I make this dish, but since tonight was unplanned, I had to have a little help. But I did add fresh herbs and and a little bit of parmiggiano reggiano (real parmesan cheese) to make the sauce "my own". Since the dish is already rich, I decided on a simple pasta to pair it with - Aglio Olio. I thought that the egg noodles (yolk-free) would be good since it's much lighter. I just sauteed the noodles with garlic, olive oil, 1 tsp butter, fresh flat-leaf parsely, lemon zest, a touch of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Another option that you can do to make this dish healthier is to grill the chicken instead of breading it. I chose to bread it since its the way we like it.

So there you have it folks, my own take of chicken parmesan. My husband absolutely loved it!