I am reposting this because for some reason the old post was inaccessible.
I had this dish like two nights ago. I only thought of this recipe because I had some leftover marinara sauce. My husband loves chicken parmigiana…actually he loves the chicken parmigiana at Tappers in Jaya One. When I was there for the food, the service sucked so bad. The servers just could not handle the weekend crowd and kept ignoring our table because we had the largest group. And what’s worse is that they can’t speak either BM or English. So I don’t think I’ll be going back there any time soon. But chicken parmigiana is basically a slab of lean chicken, fried and then baked in marinara sauce topped with cheese, either parmesan or mozzarella.
I made this on one of those days when you are so occupied with something, dinner was the last thing in mind. For example, my long abandoned stove maintenance. Although I tell myself, I must keep it clean at least once a week, somehow it always gets the best of me and becomes like some unimaginable greasy mess. Oh, bee hoon…you are such a bane to my existence although you are nice to eat, bits and pieces of you always seem to fly everywhere!
I hate it when it comes to this state. It makes everything else in the kitchen look so horrible. So…no more putting it off, gloves on, de-greaser…check, scrub….check, scrap cloths…check. After 2 hours of intense cleaning, it has become sane again, albeit some stubborn bits that just won’t come off no matter how hard I scrubbed. I even cleaned inside the oven although I haven’t deodorise it, something which I keep telling myself to do once a month. *sigh…I just don’t listen to my inner ambition.
So, back to the yummy food and enough with gross pics of dirty spots. Even after all that work, I had to think about dinner so I was mighty pleased to find a tub of marinara I had made earlier but forgot about it since it was way back in the fridge. Now, my problem with frying chicken breasts is that I’m always worried the thicker part won’t cook through but I’m pretty confident with this dish because it’ll still be put into the oven to bake with the sauce.
We had a delicious meal, I even managed to do some baked potatoes although we couldn’t eat it in the end because the chicken itself was so filling. That became a leftover lunch. I do wonder if it would make a difference not to fry the chicken in breadcrumbs, but I think this way…it locks in the moisture of the chicken and doesn’t dry out when you bake it either.
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CHICKEN PARMIGIANA RECIPE
Ingredients;
Chicken breasts, cleaned and scored on the thick part
1 egg
Flour for dusting
2 1/2 cups of marinara sauce
Sunflower oil
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Chopped parsley
Breadcrumb mix;
Panko Breadcrumbs
Italian seasoning
A pinch of salt
Black Pepper
Grated parmesan
Steps;
1. Cut the chicken breast into even thickness and score lightly on the flesh. Prepare your breading station. Mix all the ingredients for the breadcrumb mix together.
2. Beat egg in a plate and place flour on another plate. Heat shallow oil on a flat frying pan on a rather low-medium heat, you don’t want it screaming hot or the breadcrumbs will burn.
3. Dip the chicken in the flour, shake off the excess, then dip it in the egg and then coat with breadcrumbs.
4. Put in the pan to pan-fry, not deep fry. You don’t have to cook the chicken super done, if it’s still a bit uncooked, it’s okay because it’s going in the oven anyway. When both sides are looking golden brown. Take it out and drain on a rack.
5. Place some marinara sauce at the bottom of a roasting dish. Place the fried chicken on top. Cover the chicken with some more marinara sauce and top the chicken with slices of mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan on top.
6. Bake in the oven till cheese has melted or browned slightly. Let it sit for 10 mins before eating. Garnish with chopped parsley.
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Enjoy it plain…or over some pasta!
For recipe on baked potato, click here.
