So I Made Chicken Parm.......

     I made a batch of fresh Calabrese pasta sauce (here is the recipe: www.jayeatz.com/blog/so-this-mangiacake-decided-to-make-pasta-sauce-and-meatballs) last week and to my surprise it had quit the yield.  I got tired of pasta fairly quickly and had to come up with some ways to use it up and chicken parmesan seemed like a great option because it is easy and delicious.   

Easy Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients:

• Boneless chicken breast (approximately 1 breast per person)
• Panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg (per 3 pieces of chicken breast)
• Parmesan cheese
• Mozzarella cheese (2 slices per chicken breast)
• Oil 
• Pasta Sauce (about 2 cups)

Instructions:
Pre heat oven to 400f.  Flatten chicken breast with a kitchen mallet or a heavy frying pan.  Try to achieve an even flatness (I bought bone in chicken breast and deboned them myself, I ended up with the 2 fillets that I breaded and threw in the frying pan as well).

Beat egg in a bowl.  In a separate bowl pour in enough Panko bread crumbs to cover the chicken.  Mix in 4 Tbsp of parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs.  Dip the chicken breast into the beaten egg ensuring all sides of the chicken have a good coating of the egg.  Now dip the chicken into the bread crumb mixture also ensuring an even coating of the breading.  In a large frying pan heat about 1/8 of an inch of oil on a medium setting.  Once the oil is hot add the chicken breast to the frying pan.

Fry the chicken for about 5 minutes per side or until the side in the oil reaches a golden light brown colour.  You will be able to see the chicken start to change colour from the top side and be able to judge when it is time to flip.

Fry the other side for about 5 minutes.  Place enough pasta sauce to cover the bottom of a 3 quart casserole dish or a 9x12 glass dish.  Place the fried chicken breast in the dish.  Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of the chicken breast.  Add 2 slices of mozzarella cheese to the top of each chicken breast (if using shredded mozzarella make sure the top surface of the chicken has a good covering of cheese).  Pour some pasta sauce over the top of the chicken and to the sides (about enough sauce to almost come up to the top of the chicken breast).  Sprinkle some more parmesan cheese on top of the chicken and sauce.  Place the chicken into the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes.

     Chicken parm is often paired with pasta like spaghetti.  Having my full of noodles I decided to accompany my chicken parm with some green beans and shaved zucchini lightly fried and simmered in pasta sauce.  I made this during the last 15 minutes the chicken parm was in the oven.  Another great serving alternative would be to place the chicken parm on a large Italian bun and make a homemade hot Italian sandwich.

     Next time you are making pasta for supper (or have gone overboard on a batch of homemade Calabrese sauce) plan on having chicken parm the second night.  In less than an hour from start to plate you will have a delicious meal that will be different enough to make you forget that you had the sauce the evening before.