I would like to make a quick note and mention the importance of salt. I tell my husband all the time, salt is used to bring out the flavor of food...not to make your food taste like salt! I like to use kosher salt, mainly because it is what was used when I worked in restaurants, but also because it has better flavor. If you have never tried it before I would recommend you pick some up from the grocery store. You can literally taste it raw and it does not have that stinging bite that iodized salt does. Kosher salt should be used two to one to iodized salt.
I also like to use fresh cracked pepper. Once a spice is ground it starts to loose it's flavor much like an opened bottle of wine. Test it for yourself...taste the pepper in your shaker, and then taste fresh cracked...totally different!
Back to the chicken parmesan...
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can use breast, but thigh meat is much cheaper and goes farther)
- 2 c flour
- 3 eggs
- 2 c Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 1/2 jar prepared tomato sauce (I use Hunts, 4 cheese)
- 1 c mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 c parmesan
- kosher salt
- cracked pepper
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take each piece of chicken and pound it out with a mallet, or heavy object. (I use a can from the pantry.) Make sure to lay down plastic wrap so you don't mess up the counter. I like to place the chicken inside a large Ziploc bag and then use the same bag later to flour my chicken.
2. Crack the eggs into a dish with sides and whisk them until smooth. You can add a small amount of water here to thin it out if you would like. Put the flour into that Ziploc bag with lots of salt and pepper. (Two to three large pinches.) Don't worry about the amount...you always want to over season your flour. Add the bread crumbs to another dish and make an assembly line...four, egg, bread crumbs. (Some people also like to add a little parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs...make sure and use grated.)
3. Pour the olive oil into a large saute pan on the stove and get that heated up. It needs to be pretty hot because you don't want your chicken to stick, but you don't want it quite smoking.
4. Remove each piece of chicken, one by one, from the four and shake off any excess you can. You don't want there to be too much flour because it won't taste good. Dip the chicken into the eggs and shake off excess and then dip into the bread crumbs. Completely cover the chicken so that no flour is visible. I like to do at least three pieces of chicken before I start placing in the pan so that there is not a long time period between each piece.
5. Now it is time to cook! Sear each piece of dredged chicken about 4 min per side until they become lightly browned. Don't worry about the doneness because they will be going back into the oven. When finished drain them on a paper towel. This will make the finished product less greasy.
6. When all of your chicken has been seared off lay each piece into a baking dish (I use a glass Pyrex) so they overlap each other just a tad. Take the tomato sauce you have and pour it down the middle of each piece of chicken. Top the tomato sauce with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
7. Place the baking dish into the oven, uncovered, and bake for 30 min, or until the cheese is nice and bubbly. If you pounded the chicken out thin this will be more then enough time to bring it up to temperature. Always check chicken with a thermometer before eating...it should be 165 degrees.
8. I serve this along side some pasta that has been topped with the extra sauce I have from the meal and some roasted broccoli. ENJOY!!
I like this, Gona try it!
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