Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana (or Chicken Parmesan, as it's generally known) is one of those Italian-American staples that I had never heard of until I moved to the US. While it's not standard fare at our house, I did decide to make it recently and thought the results were good enough to post about!

Chicken Parmigiana

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup AP flour
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 oz Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
pasta, or whatever you want to serve it with
olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt
pepper

Start by trimming any fat off the edges of the chicken breasts. Combine the flour and a teaspoon each of salt and pepper on a plate. Coat the chicken on both sides and shake off any excess flour. Heat about two tablespoons of olive oil and the butter over medium high heat in a large skillet. Saute the chicken breasts for four minutes on one side, then flip and cook another four minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

When it comes to tomato sauce, everyone has his own favorite recipe. Let me rephrase that: everyone should have his own favorite recipe. Tomato sauce can make or break a recipe. Personally, I like some sweetness (I add a carrot) and prefer San Marzano tomatoes, pureed together with the water they come in (yes, canned tomatoes). Here's a promise: I'll post my tomato sauce recipe at some point in the not-too-distant future, but not right now. For this recipe, use whatever tomato sauce you can get your hands on.

Turn your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9 baking pan and then put about 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in there. Arrange the chicken breasts on top of the sauce, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with 3-4 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. Spoon the remaining sauce over the chicken, then cover with the Mozzarella. Top the Mozzarella with 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in the oven until heated through, about 30 minutes. Serve with pasta (or whatever your choice of side dish is).