Chicken Parmigiano

I was flipping through a People magazine and came across a healthy Chicken Parmesan recipe from Rocco DiSpirito's new book Now Eat This! I usually ignore these recipes, but I love Rocco and this one looked easy and delicious. I gave it a try a few weeks ago using the original recipe, and it turned out great.  Maybe not quite as great as The Pioneer Woman's version, but close, and much more waist-line friendly :)

Since I'm such a hot-shot in the kitchen, I decided to try the recipe again, but change around how the breadcrumbs are used.  Not sure where I get off changing a Master Chef's recipe...but it worked. The steps are below, with pictures to show-off my newly acquired cooking skills. I'm totally ready to go pro!!!

Ingredients:

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thinly sliced or pouded thin)

Nonstick olive oil spray

Extra virgin olive oil

2 cups marinara sauce (I use the Colavita brand, since it's already fairly low-fat)

1 cup drained canned whole plum tomatoes, chopped

1 cup chopped basil

1 cup reduced fat mozzarella

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (but any parmesan will work)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Salt & pepper

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil spray. 

Step 2 - Originally, the breadcrumbs were supposed to be sprinkled on top of the dish after everything is cooked, but that weirded me out.  Lightly spray the chicken breasts with olive oil, and dredge them through the breadcrumbs (along with a few dashes of salt and pepper) prior to cooking.  I used a smaller Pyrex dish to do this, but a Ziploc bag would work too.  Don't throw out the leftover breadcrumbs! I used them towards the end to thicken the sauce.

Step 3 - Once the chicken breasts are breaded, heat a grill pan on high, along with a tablespoon of olive oil.  When the grill is hot, cook chicken for about 1.5 minutes per side, until cooked through. 

Step 4 - Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce over the bottom of the baking dish.  Lay breaded and cooked chicken on top of sauce, and spoon the remaining marinara over the chicken.  Top with 1 cup of chopped tomatoes, all of the cheese, and 1/2 cup of basil:

Step 5 - Bake chicken for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs over the dish (it will give the sauce a thicker consistency), and top with fresh basil. 

Wa-la, done!  How easy is that?  I may try to add some onions and garlic in the next batch, but this is already delicious. The original version has approximately 9.5 grams of fat and 350 calories per serving -- not too bad considering that it tastes good and is filling. 

Of course I had to go buy the Now Eat This! book.  I've only flipped through it once, but I'm sure I'll have lots re recipes to share. 

xoxo,

Olivia