- Hey guys, today I'm gonna share with you,
my recipe for chicken parmesan.
It's something that my dad used to make for us,
when we were kids on Sunday nights.
And it takes a little bit of doing
to get the perfect crispiness and juiciness.
So I'm gonna share with you my six tips
for how to get an awesome chicken parmesan.
So my first tip to success,
actually begins at the super market. (giggle)
So when you are buying your chicken,
go ahead and spend a little extra money
on purchasing chicken cutlets.
And the reason I say that,
is because getting a chicken breast to cut evenly in half,
which is what you want for chicken parmesan,
can take some doing.
And I find that when you have a skilled butcher
that has already done it for you,
you'll be assured that your cutlets
are the exact same thickness.
And that will really help all of your chicken
be done at the same time.
And then the other thing I would say
is as soon as you get home,
take the chicken breast and salt them.
So one of the secrets
to getting really juicy chicken parmesan,
is to make sure it's well salted
at least 24 hours in advance.
Because chicken parmesan has two steps of cooking.
There's the frying part
that's going to get our crispy exterior
and then there's the oven part,
that melts the cheese and cooks the chicken
all the way through.
And you can imagine with these two cooking temperatures,
that if your chicken is not well salted,
it can get pretty dried out.
So I say salt at least 24 hours in advance
and that way your chicken's all ready to go.
Then when it comes time to make the dinner,
you want to begin by boiling your water first,
just make sure it's well salted,
and we're gonna use this for the pasta.
And then the next thing you want to do,
is get your sauce going.
So in a medium sauce pan
you're going to add one 15 ounce can of pure tomato sauce.
So you don't want any flavoring in it,
because we're gonna add our own.
And to that you're going to add one clove of minced garlic,
a little bit of salt and pepper to taste,
and then I also like to add a tablespoon of olive oil.
And the reason I add the olive oil
is because it creates a really nice smooth
and silky texture to the tomato sauce.
And you can just leave that on your stove-top, on simmer,
while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
So tip number two has to do with breading the chicken.
Now there's a lot of different techniques out there,
this is my favorite, because it's going to give you
the crispiest exterior with the most flavor.
And it's going to prevent your breading
from sliding off the chicken, (chuckle)
we've all seen that happen and you don't want that.
So here's what you do,
you wanna get your dipping and breading station
all set up first.
So in one shallow bowl you're gonna add
a third of a cup of all purpose flour.
In another bowl you're gonna add
a third of a cup of just classic store-bought bread crumbs,
a third of a cup of Panko bread crumbs
and that's gonna give us a really nice crunch,
and then a third of a cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
for flavor and also some additional crispiness
when that cheese melts, it's so good.
And a teaspoon and a half of Italian seasoning
and some salt and pepper to taste.
And you can whisk that all up with a fork.
And then your third bowl,
you're going to add one egg that you've beaten.
Then you're gonna take your chicken cutlet,
you're going to dip it in the flour first,
that's going to coat our chicken,
then you're gonna go in the egg and dip that on each side,
and then the final step
is to just go in the Panko bread crumb mixture.
And make sure that you are getting all of those bread crumbs
to coat on all sides of the chicken,
so you don't want really any egg showing.
You wanna make sure it's fully coated.
And you can put them all on a plate
until you have all of them done.
Tip number three has to do with frying your chicken.
So I really recommend, if you have it, a cast iron pan,
because cast iron is such a great heat conductor,
that it'll keep your oil at a constant temperature.
And will really give you a wonderfully crispy
golden brown piece of chicken.
And then you also wanna make sure you have enough oil
in the pan, so this isn't really diet food,
(laughs) but it is good.
So you do wanna make sure you have at least an inch,
an inch and a half of oil,
so that the chicken really has enough oil to fry in.
Otherwise it tends to get browned in some places
and then its all bread-crumby in other places.
You want a nice crispy piece of chicken.
While your oil is heating up,
there's two other things that you can get done
that will help with the timing.
So the first thing you wanna do is get your pasta cooking.
So I really love to use this bucatini pasta,
which is like spaghetti but it's hallow inside.
And it has a really great texture
and it looks really pretty on the plate.
If you can't find bucatini you could also use spaghetti.
I don't break it up, because I wanna keep it whole,
because that's gonna also help with our plating.
And I'm gonna show you how to twirl it up,
so you get those nice pretty mounds.
And then the other thing you wanna do
is take about 15 cherry tomatoes,
toss them with just some olive oil, salt and pepper.
We're going to place these tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet
and place a roasting rack on top.
Because they are gonna cook under our chicken,
when it comes time to put the chicken in the oven.
So once your oil is nice and hot,
go ahead and start to fry the chicken, don't crowd it,
so you may wanna do one or two at a time.
And just flip it when it starts to turn golden brown
and allow it to turn golden brown on the other side.
And then you can remove it and then see how easy this is,
you're going to just place it on that roasting rack,
which is all ready to go.
And the reason why I like the roasting rack,
is this is going to keep our chicken nice and crispy
when it goes in the oven.
And you will thank me when you take your first bite
and you see how crispy and delicious it is.
It's all about the roasting rack.
Tip number five has to do with the sauce.
You don't wanna over do it,
when you put it on top of your chicken.
I say one to two tablespoons at most
and you wanna make sure that you leave
a little crispy perimeter around the chicken.
We've all had those chicken parmesans
that are like drowning in sauce
and then they just become really bread-y,
and you lose the crispiness,
so tip number five, don't over do that sauce.
Tip number six
has to do with the mozzarella cheese you choose.
So when you're at the store,
look for the already grated mozzarella cheese,
that says low moisture.
That is really the best kind of cheese to use,
because if you use mozzarella that's packed in water,
or sometimes mozzarella that's labeled as fresh mozzarella,
there's too much water in it.
So that when it hits the oven,
all of that water starts to seep out
and will create a runny sauce underneath,
and also a soggy piece of chicken.
(laughs) So that is not the best type of cheese to use
in my opinion, I think you're better off
with the already grated, low moisture.
So we're gonna bake these at 425 degrees Fahrenheit
for anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes,
just until your cheese is melted
and the chicken is cooked through.
Then at this point, your pasta is probably ready to go.
So you can drain it and then to keep it warm,
I like to actually toss it with the sauce,
that will prevent it from getting really sticky in the pan.
And it's super easy to just heat up quickly.
And when your chicken is done,
here are a few tips to plate your dish,
so that you have a pretty dinner.
So you'll place one chicken cutlet on the plate.
And I like to garnish with some fresh basil
that you have created a very thin chiffonade
and you can go ahead and sprinkle that on top.
And then to create the pasta mounds,
it helps if you have a large serving fork and spoon,
go in with the fork and twirl it until you get a nice mound.
Then take the serving spoon
and put that under the mound and transfer it to the plate.
And then you'll see you can easily position it
and then remove the spoon.
If you don't have something like this,
you could also use a carving fork.
You basically just want a large fork, that's pretty tall,
so that you can get that pasta around it.
And then go ahead and take your parmesan cheese
and with a potato peeler,
just curl off maybe a few pieces of parmesan
and you can put that on top.
And then when you buy the fresh basil at the store,
sometimes you can find there are those little tiny leaves
at the bottom of the plant,
those make for really great garnishes.
So go ahead and find one or two
and pop that on top of the pasta.
And then those beautiful little cherry tomatoes
that we roasted, you can put those around the plate as well.
For more of my favorite Sunday night dinners,
you can click the playlist here,
and if you would like some more pasta recipes,
you can click here.
Alright you guys, I will see you back here next time,
and until then, make it a great week.