Chicken Parmesan with a Twist

My mom made this chicken parmesan when I was home for Christmas and it absolutely floored me.

Granted, I’ve always been a big fan of chicken smothered with tomato sauce and cheese, but this particular chicken parmesan was better than any other I’d ever had.

Naturally, after three bites I begged for the recipe. Turns out, it was in last month’s Food and Wine and mom has already made it three times! I couldn’t wait to get back to California and make it myself, and practically during the entire six hour flight home I relived the experience of the tender chicken, the cheesy topping and the special secret ingredient that made it all possible…

You know you love it.

Actually, I’m not going to lie. For pretty much my entire life, I despised pepperoni. It made pizza unnaturally greasy and reminded me of lunchables in the worst way possible.

I actually only recently (as of two weeks ago) became a complete pepperoni convert after trying this chicken parmesan!

The pepperoni adds just a little somethin’ somethin’ to the chicken, giving it an extra bang of flavor. I seriously could not believe how delicious this was!

I also couldn’t believe how easy it was to make. Like macaroni and cheese, I had never before attempted to make my own chicken parmesan from scratch (why would I when my mom was so good at it?).

This dinner came together at the last minute after I had gotten home late from the studio and needed something to eat fast.

Make this tonight!

Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni

adapted from Food and Wine

serves 4

4 chicken breast halves, pounded thin

2 cups Panko breadcrumbs

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella

2 ounces pepperoni (I used turkey)

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 large jar marinara sauce

1/4 cup canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

In a shallow dish or pie plate, combine the eggs and milk. In another dish, pour the panko and in one more, spread the flour (you should have three shallow dishes all lined up).

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and working with one breast at a time, dunk in the eggs/milk, then the panko and finally the flour. Repeat until all chicken breast halves have been battered.

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and lightly fry until golden on each side and cooked through. Drain the chicken on paper towels and then lay in a greased casserole dish. Cover with tomato sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella. Finally, lay the pepperoni slices on top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Serve with spaghetti or bucatini noodles like my mom does.

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Tagged as: chicken, Dinner, kid-friendly, quick meals