Chicken Parmesan
Chicken parmesan is one of those foods that people assume is difficult and time consuming, or fattening; wrong! I have made this a few time recently and had it on the table in under an hour; including preparing the tomato sauce. Also I have kept the fat and calories to a minimum by not breading or deep frying the chicken.
Serves 4
1 batch of tomato sauce/marinara sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fat trimmed away)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
125 g of part skim mozzarella, sliced in about 1/8 inch slices (4 per chicken breast)
2 tbsp Parmesean cheese
Salt
Pepper
– Prepare the marinara sauce as per instructions.
– Preheat the oven to 350
– Place a large frying pan over high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot (it will ripple) add the chicken breasts to the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
– After 2 – 3 minutes, flip the chicken breast over and again, season with salt and pepper.
– Meanwhile prepare a casserole or lasagna dish; laddle some of the tomato sauce into the dish.
– Remove the chicken from the frying pan after the second side has cooked for 2 minutes; you just want the chicken slightly browned, not cooked through.
– Place the chicken breasts in the tomato sauce in the cassarole/lasagna dish.
– Top the chicken breasts with more tomato sauce; you want the chicken covered but not drowning!
– Cover the dish with tinfoil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes; depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts.
– After the chicken has finished baking remove it from the oven and turn on the broiler, to high.
– Remove the foil from the dish and lay the slices of mozzarella evenly on each breast.
– Top evenly with the parmesan cheese.
– Return the dish to the oven when the broiler is heated; remove the dish from the oven when the cheese has melted and is slightly browned.
Notes:
- This dish is great served with whole wheat pasta or gnocchi
- Feel free to switch up the sauce you use; ragu, pesto, and arrabiate work well also.
Leave a Reply