Chicken Parm and "Quick" Spaghetti Sauce

After a really bad day, I was craving some kind of comfort food, and immediately thought of chicken parm. I was feeling extra decadent so I decided to pan fry it instead of baking it. I also used panko instead of regular breadcrumbs. The switch delighted the husband, but I am still undecided.

Plus I had 8 tomatoes laying around, so homemade sauce would be a great way to use them up. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to make a proper sauce, but the time consuming part of a proper sauce is the reduction time. Below is a recipe for "quick" spaghetti sauce, its yummy and chunky and cooks in the same amount of time as it takes to bread and fry chicken. Perfect! Not to mention, tomatoes are super sweet at the end of the season and make a fabulous sauce.

It looks like a lot of steps, but its really not at all.

Like always, I made extra, for the freezer! YUM.

For the sauce:

8 tomatoes
basil, to taste
2 onions
3 cloves garlic, more or less to taste
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
olive oil (optional, but really improves the depth of flavor)
balsamic vinegar

Mince the onion and garlic. Throw them into a skillet on medium heat until onions are translucent, about 5 mins. While you do this, start the next step.

In a medium saucepan, set some water to boil.

Cut a small "x" in the bottom of each tomato while you're waiting for the water to boil.

Dip each tomato in the boiling water for a few seconds, then remove to a cold water bath (or just run them under cold tap water).

Slide the skins off the tomatoes and remove the core with a knife. Set aside cored tomatoes.

Rinse the saucepan you just used to boil the water.

Squeeze the excess juice and seeds from the tomatoes (trust me, you won't lose any flavor here)and put the tomatoes in the saucepan.

(Optional) I wanted the tomatoes to break down faster, so I mashed them with a potato masher.

Add the basil, oil, salt, pepper, splash of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar to the mix.

Stir in the onion and garlic mixture.

Simmer on stove just until the tomatoes start breaking up, about 5 minutes. (start getting the chicken ready here)

Remove pulp from the liquid.

Continue simmering the liquid until reduced (10-15 mins).

Start boiling water for spaghetti and start working on your chicken now! :)

Once the liquid is reduced, check seasoning and add more, if needed. Return the pulp to the saucepan and simmer a few more minutes.

VOILA. Put some on top of spaghetti, bake some with the chicken and ENJOY.


For the chicken:

2 chicken breasts
breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 egg whites
italian seasoning
olive oil, for frying
mozzarella cheese
"quick" spaghetti sauce

Pound the chicken breast flat until it's about 1/4-1/2 inch thin (or cheat like me and buy the thin cut chicken breast at the store). If you don't have a meat tenderizer, get creative. I've pounded chicken flat with a soup can before.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg, egg whites and italian seasoning.

Pour the breadcrumbs on a plate.

Dip the chicken in the egg wash, then in the breadcrumbs, back in the egg wash, and into the breadcrumbs again. Do this with all the chicken.

In a skillet, heat the oil. You'll know its hot enough when you can flick a few drops of water in there and they sizzle. Place the chicken in the skillet, and brown about 4-5 minutes on each side.

Put the chicken in a baking pan, and cover with sauce, and then with cheese (I use copious amounts of cheese). Bake in the oven until cheese melts, then turn on broiler to brown the tops of the cheese.

NOTE: You can decide to bake the chicken, 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until browned. Add cheese and melt.

There you go! An italian feast in 35 minutes.