Posts tagged tomato sauce

Definitely try my homemade Marinara sauce in the previous post but if you just feel like being lazy and really don’t care about giving your guests the absolute BEST, you can use your favorite jar sauce. (Please note the sarcasm, lol)

2 jars of your favorite tomato sauce

12 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (hey, I have a large family and we like to take leftovers the next day)

6 eggs

3 cups parmesan, grated (got it from the refrigerated section across from the deli…not that powdered stuff!)

3 cups bread crumbs (I used the Italian seasoned one’s from Publix)

3/4 cup olive oil (1/4 c per round of cooking….I made 4 breasts at a time)

Salt

Pepper

6 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, coarsely sliced

12 slices fresh mozzarella cheese from the deli (have them slice it kinda thick)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare chicken by laying it between two layers of parchment paper (or saran wrap). Using a meat mallet, wine bottle or rolling pin (my fav), pound out the chicken pieces until they are 1/4 and 1/2″ thick pieces. Don’t underestimate the necessity of pounding them out, this will ensure tenderness.(Some of them may be tooooo thick and you might have to go after it with a knife) Make sure all pieces are even. Nothing worse than some being overcooked and some being undercooked. Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Using a bowl large enough to comfortably dredge a piece of the chicken, mix the bread crumbs and 1/2 the parmesan cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.

Heat 1/4 olive oil in a frying pan. Once hot, quickly dredge the chicken breasts in the eggs, coat with the breadcrumb mixture and then add to the pan. (If you believe you will not move quickly enough to prepare the four pieces evenly, by all means, dredge them first, lay them aside and then fry them all at once.)

Once all 4 are in the pan, in their own little space, cook them until golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from pan. Add more oil if needed and continue preparing your (uncrowded) batches of chicken breasts. DO NOT OVER COOK!!! They will continue in oven but the biggest complaint is that the chicken becomes rubbery or hard. My way is delicate and soft, I promise!

In a 9×13 casserole dish, spread some sauce down before placing your breasts. (You will need 2 dishes if you do 12 breasts, fyi) Place sauce over the breasts as well.

Top with basil and then mozzarella. Before placing in the preheated oven, add the remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until mozzarella begins to brown. Serve with noodle of choice (I used spaghetti) and the remaining sauce. FIVE STAR!!!!! (Sorry I couldn’t get a pic of it with after it finished baking but they wouldn’t wait)