Chicken Parmesan

While shopping at Aldi, J picked up a frozen chicken Parmesan meal. Wait. Before I start I need to inform you about Aldi. If you haven’t been to one, I highly suggest checking it out. Back in Chicagoland there’s one in every town. It is seriously the best place to shop for groceries. Everything is “store brand,” but is identical (if not better) than brand name. And for about half the price. Aldi also owns Trader Joe’s, so that gives you a good idea about their quality. When I moved to Auburn I was devastated I had to dish out so much money at Walmart for my food bill. The closest Aldi was in Birmingham or Atlanta. When we moved to Clarksville we were thrilled to have one back!

Anyways, when J wanted to get this frozen preservative hormone filled crap, I laughed and told him to put it back. I could make that from scratch and it would taste a thousand times better.

So, I picked up a few ingredients and set out to prove my claims. Let me show you how!

2 chicken breasts, halved

1 egg

1-2 cups breadcrumbs

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

8 slices mozzarella cheese

Half jar plain marinara sauce

Parmesan cheese (I’m a firm believer in the refrigerated grated kind. Not the powder Kraft stuff)

First, trim the chicken and pound it out to about half its original thickness. How much you pound it is completely up to you. The thinner it becomes, the more surface area there is to bread and be yummy, so thump away. I didn’t have any utensils to help me with this, so I went old school and used my fist on the counter. 

Next, whisk your egg and and dip your chicken. Make sure to get a good coating.

Cover the breasts in breadcrumbs. I used plain, but I think next time I’ll go with Italian for a little more flavor.

Heat your olive oil in a skillet. I made the mistake of putting too much oil in and having to dump some. You just want a small amount to brown up your crumbs.

Cook the chicken a few minutes on each side until it starts looking dark golden and real pretty. Don’t worry about the center of the meat not being done, because you’re going to bake it for more than enough time.

Enlist the help of a Border Collie to clean up your crumbs

Now lay your chicken in a baking dish. I’m sure a 9x13 pan would be appropriate, but at the moment our supplies are limited. As you can see, they wouldn’t fit, so I had to use two pans. Ugh.

Use a single layer, unlike my picture =)

Layer your slices of mozzarella over the chicken.

Then pour the sauce over. Next time, I’ll use more mozzarella and less sauce. We really like cheese. Sprinkle a hefty amount of Parmesan over the sauce.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese looks niceeee and bubbly.

Serve with a side of spaghetti.

The verdict? It was undoubtedly better than that yucky frozen stuff. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the bread coating and cheese was so yummy. Jon said it might possibly be his new favorite meal. Success!