I was just going to say Old Favorites, except that the other day’s polenta is surely a new favorite. Can I just reiterate how delicious that was? And can I just say that it was also wickedly easy? Trust me, if you’re eyeing up that polenta, it’s worth giving it a go.
Last night though, we revisited one of Andy’s favorites, and while I have talked about it before, it’s been a while, and since it is a favorite, it’s worth repeating. Everytime I make this easy Chicken Parmesan from Giada De Laurentiis, I’m delighted with how delicious and easy it is. The whole family enjoys it as well, so that’s always an added bonus. Sometimes when I make it, I go to the trouble to make the homemade Marinara Sauce, but more often than not, I honestly don’t. I use bottled sauce from time to time- the requisite for bottled sauce being that there is no HFCS, and that all the ingredients are real ingredients. Last night’s bottle of Barilla sauce listed tomatoes, onions, garlic, spices, herbs, salt, garlic, bell peppers, and there were one or two other things, but they were real foods- not additives, and not sugar. To be honest though, for this dish, a good quality seasoned canned tomato would work great as well, I’m thinking Muir Glen’s Crushed Tomatoes with Basil would work perfectly.
This dish packs maximum flavor for minimum work. It’s delicious and easy enough for company, and it can be made ahead of time, and then gently reheated. If you really wanted to fancy it up, during grill season we’ll grill the chicken breasts instead of pan-frying them. That adds a whole new delicious dimension and is worth getting out the grill for. If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, or they’re prohibitively expensive, don’t fret, just use dried herbs. The trick there is to make your herb oil ahead of time and let the herbs really infuse their flavor into the oil. Maybe an hour ahead of time will do, although you could probably do it even the night or morning before.
No matter how you do it, this dish is completely adaptable to your tastes, and is worth repeating over and over.
Chicken Parmesan
1 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves ( I added this part) Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 (3-ounces each) chicken cutlets 3/4 cup Marinara Sauce, or purchased marinara sauce 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella 8 teaspoons grated Parmesan 1 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces (Left off)Directions:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Stir the oil and herbs in a small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the cutlets with the herb oil. Heat a heavy large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Add the cutlets and cook just until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Spoon the marinara sauce over and around the cutlets. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mozzarella over each cutlet, then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of Parmesan over each. Sprinkle the butter pieces atop the cutlets. Bake until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.