Champion Chicken Parmesan
Submitted by happyzhangbo
Pounded chicken breasts dredged in Parmesan flour, pan-seared golden, and baked under a from-scratch sun-dried tomato sauce with bubbly mozzarella. Served over linguine, this lighter chicken parm doesn’t skimp on flavor.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
25 minCOOK
40 minREADY
70 minThis chicken parm earns the “champion” title by doing everything from scratch and keeping it lighter than the usual deep-fried, cheese-drowned version.
The sauce is where it starts: sun-dried tomatoes rehydrated and simmered with red bell peppers, onion, fresh basil, parsley, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. It’s rich, chunky, and leagues beyond anything from a jar.
Chicken breasts get pounded thin, dipped in egg white, dredged in a Parmesan-flour mixture, and pan-seared until golden. Then everything gets layered in a baking dish, topped with mozzarella, and baked until bubbly.
Serve it over hot linguine and let the sauce do the talking.
Pro Tips
- Pound the chicken to an even ¼-inch thickness. Uneven pieces cook unevenly, and nobody wants dry edges with a raw center.
- Rehydrate the sun-dried tomatoes for a full 30 minutes. Shortchanging the soak leaves them chewy and tough in the sauce.
- A splash of balsamic vinegar in the sauce adds a sweet-tart depth that balances the tomatoes beautifully.
- Use non-fat mozzarella to keep it lean, or swap in part-skim for a better melt.
Ingredients
Directions
To prepare tomato sauce, combine sun-dried tomatoes and water in a bowl; cover and let stand 30 minutes or until soft.
Drain and finely chop tomatoes.
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add sun-dried tomatoes, bell pepper, and onion; sauté 7 minutes.
Stir in canned tomatoes; bring to a boil.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in parsley, basil, vinegar, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and garlic.
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare chicken, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife.
Combine flour, Parmesan, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper in a shallow dish.
Place each breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; flatten to ¼ inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin.
Dip each breast half in egg white; dredge in flour mixture.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add chicken; cook 5 minutes on each side or until golden.
Arrange in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Pour the tomato sauce over the chicken.
Sprinkle with mozzarella.
Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
Serve over linguine.
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