Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Parmesan chicken bake



Parmesan chicken pasta bake....quite possibly the perfect dish to cook when I know I'll be busy for a few days since the quantity is easily adjusted and reheats reasonably well for leftovers. I've been making this wonderful italian style dish since I learned the recipe from my home economics class in 9th grade. Even my sister who doesn't usually like the flavor of cheese enjoys this classic. The heavenly aroma of parmesan released in the air while pan frying the breading seriously makes my makes my knees weak. (Er, actually, lots of things makes my knees weak, okay, anything food related will have that effect but bear with my dreamy description since it's my blog after all) After a brief shallow frying to brown the breading, the chicken is baked with the pre-boiled pasta, gently touched with marinara sauce, and finished in the oven to a crisp, yet tender texture.

This recipe is very forgiving, in that exact measurements are not needed and can be approximated if you're too lazy to weigh out everything!

Ingredients:
10 oz (roughly 300 g) skinless chicken breast
2 eggs, beaten
equal portions of bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese (I used about a 1/2 each)
pasta noodles, any type
1/2 cup marinara sauce, either store bough or homemade
4 tbsp oil

Directions:
1. Slice the chicken breast into thin pieces to your liking. This is easiest when the chicken breast has been partially frozen first.
2. Beat the 2 eggs together in a bowl and put aside
3. Mix the bread crumbs with the parmesan cheese and put it on a plate next to the beaten eggs
4. Using chopsticks, pick up one slice of chicken, dredge it in the bread/cheese mixture, dip it into the egg mixture, and back into the bread/cheese mixture. Repeat with remaining slices.
5. Heat a pan to medium/high, pour about 1 tsbp oil evenly into pan. Place a chicken piece even on it and let it sizzle and brown for about 2 minutes each side. (Do not move the chicken once you have placed it on the pan until it has browned, or else the coating may come off!). Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining pieces using more oil when needed.
6. Meanwhile, boil some pasta noodles until almost cooked. Preheat oven to 350 F.
7. Pour a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a pan. Layer the cooked noodles over the sauce. Place chicken pieces over the noodles. If desired, place more sauce on top and sprinkle with leftover bread/cheese mixture. You may top with other types of cheese if you are a cheese fan!
8. Bake for 20 minutes until bubbly and hot!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

love baked noodle dishes, would try this ....thanx

Anonymous said...

er, sorri,where's the recipe ah ?

Anonymous said...

looks yum!!!! i can smell it right here! well done dear.

diddy said...

Thanks Peony and Evan! There's really no hardcore recipe since I've been making this forever. I just eyeball it but I'll post the approximate ingredients.