Chicken parmigiana

Chicken parmesan: a simple and different recipe to enjoy chicken breast. Chicken parmigiana is a tasty and simple second course to prepare, a different recipe from the usual to cook chicken breast that will conquer you from the first taste. The recipe for chicken parmigiana is inspired by a very popular dish in Canada (chicken parmesan) where it is commonly associated with Italian cuisine, although thinking about it I can't think of any traditional Italian recipe prepared like this. The chicken parmigiana is in fact made up of slices of chicken breast breaded and fried and, subsequently, sautéed in the oven with mozzarella and what in America is called marinara sauce, that is a tomato sauce with garlic and oregano. Probably the Italian Canadian recipe of chicken parmesan derives from an elaboration of eggplant parmigiana, certainly tasty and imaginative but foreign to Italian tradition.

Whatever its origin, chicken parmigiana is still a very appetizing dish, suitable to be served in informal contexts such as a dinner with friends and family: it also lends itself to being prepared in advance and recooked in the oven only at the last moment. If prepared according to the Canadian recipe of chicken parmesan, it is certainly a fairly caloric dish, but once in a while we can allow it; At the end of the recipe, however, you will also find some advice for preparing chicken parmigiana.

Ingredients

For chicken breast

400 g Chicken breast (sliced)

2 Eggs

2 tablespoons Milk

80 g Breadcrumbs (gluten-free for me)

40 g Parmigiano Reggiano (grated)

Flour to taste

3 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

30 g butter

Salt to taste

For the marinara sauce

500 g Tomato puree

2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Oregano

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

To garnish the chicken parmigiana

150 g Mozzarella

2 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano (grated)

1 bunch of Parsley

Preparation

Parmesan chicken recipe

To prepare the chicken parmigiana start with the marinara sauce: in a pot fry the clove of garlic in two tablespoons of oil. When it is golden add the tomato puree, a pinch of salt, pepper and a teaspoon of dried oregano. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Then prepare the chicken breast: beat the eggs on a plate with two tablespoons of milk and a pinch of salt. Pour the flour into one dish and the breadcrumbs mixed with 30 g of Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt into another. Clean the slices of chicken breast from any cartilage, if they are very thick, beat them lightly with a meat mallet. Then pass them in the flour and then in the egg.

Drain the excess egg and pass them in the mix of breadcrumbs and Parmesan, pressing to make it adhere on all sides. Once all the slices of chicken breast have been breaded, cook it: in a large pan, heat the oil together with the butter. When it's hot, place the chicken breast slices.

Let them cook for 4-5 minutes, then turn them over and brown them well on the other side. Drain and dry on a sheet of absorbent paper. Finish the preparation of the chicken parmigiana with cooking in the oven: take a baking dish that can contain all the slices of chicken breast in a single layer and at the bottom with 2-3 tablespoons of marinara sauce. Then lay down the chicken slices. Cover with the rest of the sauce.

Season with two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese and complete with sliced mozzarella. Cook the parmigiana chicken in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes. When the cheese is well melted, take it out of the oven and garnish with chopped parsley.

Serve the chicken parmigiana immediately, along with its sauce.

Chicken parmigiana – light variants

If you want to save some calories and still enjoy an appetizing and tasty parmigiana chicken you can: – fry the chicken in 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, without added butter; – avoid frying altogether, cooking the breaded chicken slices in the oven at 200 ° for about 15 minutes, after having sprinkled them with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil; – Also avoid using the egg: wet the slices of chicken breast in milk, then pass them directly in the mix of breadcrumbs and Parmesan, without using flour. In this case, however, do not fry them, but bake them in the oven as indicated above.