Chicken Parmy at Home

Hey guys! I just got back from a perfectly crazy-fun weekend in Nashville for my best friend's bachelorette party. I'm planning on posting a PG-13 recap of it on Thursday (although we were on very good behavior, so I don't even know if I could make it R-Rated). For now, I'm going to share a recipe I made last week. I'm very fond of chicken parmies (short for parmigiana) in Australia. They are pounded thin, breaded and deep-fried, coated with tomato-based sauce and cheese, and then served with fries and a small side salad. All facts considered, it's hard to not like. I had the parmy pictured below on December 26th of last year in Adelaide and devoured it. 

I don't own a deep-frying  device and the parmies posted above are not mainstream in America (please send me a note if you think I can find this in a pub in Chicago!), so I tried to recreate it at home. 

Thanks to my stove top and oven, I made some pretty good chicken parmy. I used an almond crusting instead of bread crumbs, but you don't have to use nuts. We also used frozen French fries (because we thought of the fries at the last minute and didn't have any potatoes). In addition to Things That Are Not Homemade, I used a store-bought pasta sauce. However, I'll add a link for instructions on how I made homemade pasta sauce! I promise that this is much healthier than what I ate on December 26th (and it still tastes good!). 

If your chicken breasts aren't already thin, you'll need to pound them. Al and I usually cover them in Glad Wrap and pound them with our fists to make them flatter. It's easy. 

You'll also want to make an egg wash. I usually make an "assembly line" on the way to the pan with the egg wash
first, then the coating. It creates less mess. 

Here's the recipe!

Homemade Chicken Parmy

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast for each serving, skinless, boneless, and pounded thin
• 1 T olive oil
• For each chicken breast, you need:
  • 1/4 cup almonds
  • 1 tsp basil, dried
  • 1 tsp oregano, dried
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 egg (although this might be excessive; 1 egg might cover 2 breasts
  • 1/4-1/2 cup pasta sauce, depending on how much you want (Classico is my favorite jarred pasta sauce, in the Roasted Garlic Flavor. Look here for how to make homemade pasta sauce.)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place the almonds, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into blender/food processor and blend/pulse until the almonds are finely ground. Place into shallow bowl.
3. Crack eggs into shallow bowl and whisk well. 
4. Meanwhile, heat olive oil on medium-high heat in pan. When ready, submerge each piece of chicken (one at a time) into egg wash and then, carefully shaking off excess drippings, drop into bowl with the almond coating and flip. Once the chicken is fully-coated on both side, place onto pan. 
5. Cook each piece for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until it starts to brown.
6. Place chicken breasts into 9x13 clear baking dish (you may want to use cooking spray or more oil to prevent sticking) and cover breasts with the sauce and cheese. Cover with foil and bake in oven for 25 minutes.
7. After 25 minutes, remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked through. 

To make it  a true Australian parmy, eat with fries (aka hot chips!), a side salad, and a cold beer to drink. Sprinkle chicken salt on your chips.