I LOVE Baked Chicken Parmigiana and this delicious recipe bakes the chicken rather than frying it! Chicken breast schnitzels are coated in a seasoned panko breadcrumb mixture before topping them in a rich tomato sauce, ham and cheese. You will swear that these were pan fried but they're done entirely in the oven! This is a pushy dinner recipe Dear Reader.
I really like chicken parmigianas but sometimes you just want one that is a bit less oily and that's where baking it comes in! It is entirely possible to bake a crispy, golden and crunchy chicken schnitzel and the rest is so easy that you don't have to go out to the pub to enjoy your favourite parmi!
Tips For Making Baking Chicken Parmigiana
1 - Chicken schnitzel or parmigiana fillets are made out of a halved chicken breast. All you have to do is cut across the breast from the thickest part where it will open up into a heart shape - you get two chicken schnitzel fillets per breast. You can also buy Chicken Breast Schnitzel already sliced up where they usually come in a 500g/1.1lb pack of 4.
2 - Chicken Parmigiana in Australia are usually topped with ham and cheese, while other countries just use cheese. I use a mixture of tasty or Cheddar cheese slices plus grated fresh mozzarella for meltability.
3 - We pre-toast the panko breadcrumbs so that they are golden and super crunchy before coating the chicken in them.
4 - For convenience you can use a pre-bought pasta sauce. Whichever one you like the best is good. I use my home made marinara sauce with chilli added to it that I make in the Thermomix.
5 - UPGRADE: Brine your chicken breasts for juicy and tender chicken! All you need is 30-60 minutes-just dissolve 100g/3.5ozs fine salt in 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs of hot water and then top it up with 3 cups/750/0.8 quart cold water. Place in a container in the fridge for 60 minutes.
Other recipe dishes to make with chicken breasts are Stuffed Chicken Breasts With Spinach, Healthy Tuscan Chicken, Chicken Paillard, Chicken Sorrentino or Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed With Cheese!
Mr NQN has been eating a lot of chicken breast lately because it's a healthy source of protein and he has been trying to eat a bit healthier (for his parmigianas, I use less ham and cheese too). He also doesn't like overly oily food so this chicken parmigiana was perfect for him for dinner. I left a plate of this for him to eat as I left early that afternoon for an event a couple of weeks ago in Mosman.
I arrived at the function at around 5pm. Everyone was very nicely dressed and waiting to get in. I just had to do a park right in front of them. Now everyone was watching me reverse park. I reversed into the car spot without too much drama and opened the door. Feeling the chill I pulled the coat that was sitting on the front passenger side of the car across to my side of the car and started to put it on.
Then something rolled out of my coat pocket. And it rolled and unrolled entirely. It was a brand new roll of dog poop bags that I had put in my coat when I walked Teddy and Milo last week. It was so large that it rolled all the way to the crowd of people waiting stopping about a foot away from the nearest person.
Arrrggh I said to myself groaning inwardly. If you're a dog parent you'll know that it's like having a toilet paper roll unfurl. I hoped for one second that nobody knew what it was but while trying to quickly scoop it up I heard someone mutter to their friend "Dog poo bags," and then giggle. So that's how to not make an elegant entrance into an event. I should have stayed home and eaten the parmigiana!
So tell me Dear Reader, do things like this happen to you too? And do you have parmigianas with ham or without?
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