Chicken Parmigiana

If you haven't figured it out yet, I love cooking Italian dishes, though I'm not Italian. There's something very comforting about these Italian classics, not to mention they're easy to make. This recipe for Chicken Parmigiana is loosely based off of Bobby Flay's, though I use more spices and seasonings, and it is the best I've ever had. I think what makes this recipe particularly delicious is the thinness of chicken breast, so if you trim and pound out chicken breast halves, make sure they're thin. Or, you can also buy a package of thin sliced cutlets and I would recommend pounding them out a little more so they're extra thin.

My wine pairing for Italian dishes is becoming pretty predictable as well, I love an Italian sangiovese or chianti, but you can mix it up by trying different red Italian wines in your local wine store and you'll almost always have a good pairing.

I also served up this dish with a simple caesar salad with romaine lettuce, croutons, shredded carrots, tomatoes, and light caesar dressing (my favorite is Ken's).

What you need:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves, cut into thirds and pounded thin or 6 thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets
2/3 cup flour
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups panko
Garlic Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
2 tbsp Oregano
2 tbsp Parsley
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup tomato sauce
6 thin slices of mozzarella
1/3 cup of grated parmesan

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Pour flour into shallow dish and season generously with garlic salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and set aside while other ingredients prepared.
3. Beat two eggs with a 2 tbsp of water and season with garlic salt and pepper.
4. Pour panko into another shallow dish and season with oregano, parsley, and crushed red pepper flakes.
5. Dip chicken in eggs, allow excess to drip off, then dredge both sides in panko.
6. Heat about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add chicken (may need to cook in batches) and cook until golden brown on each side (cooking times will vary depending on type of cookware and stove - I used a cast iron skilet on an electric stove and it took about 4-6 minutes on each side; make sure oil is hot before adding chicken!).
7. Arrange cooked chicken in a single layer on a large baking dish. Top with tomato sauce, then slices of mozzarella, and top with grated parmesan.
8. Bake for 5-7 minutes in oven. Enjoy!