Saturday, September 5, 2009

Chicken Parmesan with Fresh Mozzarella and Fresh Basil


Ingredients
4 large good sized boneless chicken breasts
1 cup mayonnaise (lite mayo works fine!)
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
2 cups panko (usually in the asian section of a regular grocery store)
1 (20 ounce) jar of good marinara sauce (Prego, Ragu, etc.)
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon garlic (or 2 cloves, chopped)
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 dash salt and pepper
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
1 cup fresh basil
Directions
1Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2Mix italian bread crumbs with panko in a large dish.
3Slather each chicken breast with mayo and dredge in breadcrumbs.
4Put chicken breasts side by side in baking dish and cook in oven for 15-18 minutes or until they start to brown on the outside.
5Begin the sauce with jar of pasta sauce, can of tomatoes, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper (add a little onion if you wish). Simmer on low-medium heat until chicken is browning.
6Remove chicken from oven and pour all of the sauce over the tops of the breasts.
7Reduce oven temp to 375 and bake, uncovered, for another 20 minutes.
8In the last 5 minutes, pull the chicken out again and layer on slices of FRESH MOZZARELLA all over the chicken and return to oven.
9I usually turn the broiler on for about 2 mins to start the melting process then turn it back to the oven.
10Once the cheese has melted and started to bubble, remove from oven.
11Top with lots of torn Fresh Basil leaves.
12Serve with pasta.

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