Chicken parmigiana
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
- Dietary
- Nut-freePregnancy-friendly
Anna Del Conte's chicken parmigiana is the easy Italian-American chicken bake that's perfect for midweek cooking. Crunchy, cheesy and with an easy tomato sauce, this is sure to become a family favourite.
Ingredients
- olive oil: 2 tbsp olive oil
- garlic: 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- chopped tomatoes: 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- chicken breasts: 4 chicken breasts
- panko breadcrumbs: 50g/1¾oz dry breadcrumbs (panko breadcrumbs work well)
- egg: 1 free-range egg, beaten
- butter: 25g/1oz butter
- dried chilli: pinch dried chilli flakes
- mozzarella: 100g/3½oz mozzarella, cut into 5mm/¼in-thick slices
- oregano: handful fresh basil or oregano leaves
- salt: salt
Method
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and fry the garlic until soft. Add the tomatoes and gently simmer for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Lay the chicken breasts in between two sheets of baking paper and bash with a meat tenderiser or rolling pin, until flattened slightly.
Season the breadcrumbs with salt in a shallow bowl or plate. Put the egg in another shallow bowl. Coat the chicken in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs.
Heat the remaining oil and the butter in a frying pan over a medium–high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes, or until crisp, turning halfway through.
Put half of the tomato sauce in a shallow ovenproof dish. Lay the chicken on top, scatter with the chilli flakes and cover with the remaining sauce. Top with the mozzarella and cover with a lid or foil. Bake for 10 minutes.
Uncover the chicken and bake for a further 8–10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breast, until cooked through. Top with the basil and serve.
