First of all Parma is a city in the northern region of Italy, famously known for it's Prosciutto among other cultural beauty. But, believe it or not, this savory dish has it's origins in the United States. It does take its inspiration from Italy. Eggplant Parmigiana was the original Italian recipe or Mellanzana alla Parmigiana, and the switch to chicken in United States is anyone's guess. But, the original eggplant recipe is how the people of Parma italy cooked their eggplant, which is lightly breaded, cooked in olive oil and topped with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. Okay lets get started.
Ingredients
- 4-5 chicken breasts, cut into cutlets and tenderize with mallet
- 4 eggs
- salt and pepper
- Tomato sauce (use recipe from earlier post "Tuscany Tomato Sauce)."
- Bread crumbs
- Romano cheese (handful)
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- Mozzarella cheese
- Parmagiano Reggaino
Directions
First, make your breading mixture by adding 3 cups of bread crumbs, a handful of Romano cheese, and tablespoon of sugar and mix well. Second, in a separate plate, scramble eggs. Leave both plates side-by-side.
Devain, cut chicken into cutlets all with same thickness. Wrap each piece in saran wrap, and tenderize both sides with a mallet. When done, line chicken up and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Put chicken on a plate beside mixture. Heat up one or two frying pans with extra virgin olive oil, depending on skill level. Now, dip chicken in egg, bread crumbs, then fry until golden brown on both sides. Do this until all chicken is cooked, and soak up any extra oil by letting chicken sit and cool on paper towels, not piled up on each other. After chicken is cooled, place in baking dish, side by side, trying not to over lap too much. Pour Tuscany Tomato sauce over chicken, not soaking it but generous, (you might want to add a small can of tomato paste to really thicken up the sauce so it sits and doesn't soak into cutlets. Try to reduce it as much as you can.), then cover with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake in oven at 350 F for 20 mins, cool, garnish with parsley flakes, parmigiana cheese and serve with favorite pasta dish.