The stuff that dreams are made of...well my dreams anyways. Chicken Parmigiana Pasta.

Panic envelops my racing mind as I reflect upon how the year 2016 feels like an enormous cavern of blank space in the course of my life. The initial thrills of finally receiving the name of my autoimmune disorder rapidly morphed into the gift of uncertainty of the never-ending question of what was to come next. That year is simultaneously a blur of emotions, anxiety, frustration, edged with flashes of joy and inspiration. In some ways, I feel as though the year of 31 never really occurred, and I skipped ahead to 32 where things in my life are much more settled, adjusted, and less medicated. One of the medications I was on at the beginning of 2016 made it so that the only foods I could consume without causing great distress to my digestive system was cottage cheese, yogurt, and berries. It was an incredibly tragic diet for a few months, and while I still enjoy those foods, I am ever so grateful to rediscover and luxuriate in a multitude of cuisines once again. Replaying 2016 in my minds eye evokes a strong sense of rediscovering myself - similar to how Ariel recovers her voice at the end of The little Mermaid. It is fascinating and a curious part of human nature that people can speak more normally about the most challenging points in their life once they have emerged through to the other side, tenuous or not. There is always hope, strength, and dignity to learn from each situation we face.

One of the dishes I frequently ordered for delivery when I first truly started getting sick was Chicken Parmesan Pasta, and it was once again one of the dishes I was able to sink my teeth into once I was able to eat normally. There is something that is intensely satisfying and comforting about the combination of sweetly acidic tomatoes, slicked onto slurpable noodles. Added to the slippery noodles (I like a lot of sauce, what can I say?) is the crunch of the fried chicken, juicy and tender contradicting the crisped breading. Then the pillowy, spongy texture of the mild Mozzarella is accented sharply with the funk of Parmesan cheese. Truly, there is a reason so many people adore this seemingly simple dish. Even when it is executed poorly, Chicken Parmigiana is STILL good.

One of my favorite comfort foods, Chicken Parmigiana Pasta is intensely satisfying with the homemade Marinara, crunch of the Panko breading, and meltiness of the Mozzarella.

Since I inadvertently lived a modified Whole 30 lifestyle for a bit, I found when re-introducing foods, my body now hated lots of chemicals, pesticides, and additives. Gone are the days of just ordering deliciously junky foods, as I never can be sure of what is exactly in them. So I vowed to figure out how to make a superior version of Chicken Parmigiana, one that would be worth the extra time and effort of frying the chicken at home. This would be no easy feat for myself. This is because I have an inordinate fear of setting the house on fire from frying things, which is ridiculous as I was so comfortable using a giant fryalator in restaurant kitchens. Those thing are designed to fry, and you can walk away as there is no open flame underneath, which quelled my fears there. At home, however, visions of scorched countertops and hearing myself sobbing on the 5 o’clock news about how all I wanted was Chicken Parmesan and please forgive me for setting Arizona on fire danced through my head.

Nonetheless, I squashed my slightly (I admit, grossly over exaggerated) fears of pan frying and formulated the most fantastical Chicken Parmigiana Pasta recipe. For me, it comes down to two main things, an insanely great Marinara and perfecting the crunch and flavor profile of the breading on the chicken. The secret to a phenomenal Marinara Sauce comes from two different things - San Marzano Tomatoes, and butter. San Marzano Tomatoes are inherently sweeter and intensely tomato=y, and most likely the restaurants you go to that have that perfect Marinara sauce use San Marzano Tomatoes exclusively. Butter will round out the flavor of the tomatoes, enhance it, and create this wonderful silken mouth feel when you are trying to recreate the iconic Lady and the Tramp spaghetti slurping scene. Once you have those two elements, the rest of the sauce can be flavored simply and subtly and is simply outstanding.

Plan ahead to make this Chicken Parmigiana Pasta, as the breading then pan frying can be a bit time consuming and fussy, but you will NOT be sorry you took the extra steps once it is done.

I chose to use Panko Bread Crumbs as I love an enormous crunch to the breading in Chicken Parmigiana. Since the way I finish cooking the chicken is in the oven, where the chicken is nestled in sauce, it was essential to use Panko Bread Crumbs to create a crunchy texture that would stand up to the softening effect that naturally occurs. Soggy breading is the most tragic disappointment of anything fried, and I have found Panko Bread Crumbs are more than up to the job of staving off the soggy woes of too soft breading.

It took several attempts to balance the flavors and textures correctly, but this version is my idea of perfect. Normally I inundate my noodles with Marinara, but it really is not necessary with the sweet richness of this butter filled sauce. Prepping everything before starting the cooking process makes this multi step process SO much more fluid and accessible for anyone to prepare. I highly, highly recommend purchasing the Fresh Mozzarella Ball, as well as the San Marzano Tomatoes , Fresh Basil leaves, and a good, solid Parmesan cheese - the powdered kind in that green jar is not going to cut it for this. These slightly more spendy items are worth it in the end result.

*Some of you may have noticed the site layout on Desktop has cleaned up a bit, as well as on the Mobile version. As I post more entries, I wanted the site to be a bit cleaner and less overwhelming to look through. My husband and I are in the (very slow) process of revamping the site to be a bit more user friendly, and setting up email in case you have any questions. Be warned, it may be a while for it to go live, as neither of us are a genius at the technical side of things, but it will happen :)

**In case any of you were wondering, this recipe was completely Gohn household approved, from the husband to the cats - they came and meowled at me while I came up with this last version.

Sink your teeth into this deliciously crunchy, flavorful Chicken Parmigiana Pasta.

Chicken Parmigiana Pasta

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 2 Generous or 4 Modest

This Chicken Parmigiana is SO worth it to take the extra time and make everything from scratch. There are many steps, but what I have found to be the best process for this is to make sure ALL of your ingredients are chopped, sliced, and prepped before starting to actually cook. I find that frying things, especially, take extra attention in order to not overcook or burn the breading. It is also helpful to make sure you have a plate already lined with paper towels to drain the chicken as you fry it instead of trying to run around like a chicken with its head chopped off trying to do that with gross chicken breaded hands. Don’t ask me how I know this ha.

You can serve this with this Italian Herbed Artisan Bread and a simple mixed green salad to have a fantastic, well balanced meal. It bumps the servings up to 4 rather than 2 very generous portions of the chicken and pasta.

A tip on frying the chicken, once you place it in the oil, DO NOT TOUCH IT until you flip it to the other side. This allows the chicken to evenly brown. I have you heat the oil to medium high temp but once you put the chicken in the oil temperature drops - watch and adjust the heat up or down as needed as to not burn the breading.

Ingredients

For the Marinara:

1 28 oz can of San Marzano Tomatoes, whole tomatoes in juices
5 oz. Salted Butter
1 Onion, peeled and sliced in half
2-3 cloves Fresh Garlic, smashed against the side of a knife
1 Tsp Oregano
1/2 to 1 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Additional Sea Salt to taste

For the Chicken:

2 Chicken Breasts, sliced in half and pounded to just about 1/2 inch thick so it cooks evenly
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Eggs, whisked
1 Tbsp Water
1 1/2 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs, Italian Herb Flavored
1 Cup grated fine Parmesan Cheese, divided (best quality you can afford)
2 Tbsp Chiffonade cut Fresh Basil, divided
1/2 Tsp Granulated Garlic
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
Sea Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
1/3 Cup Olive Oil for pan frying
8 oz ball Fresh Mozzarella, sliced into 8 equal slices

For Serving:

1/2 box of Spaghetti, cooked to just under al dente (6 to 7 minutes in boiling water)
1/3-1/2 Cup grated Fine Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 Tbsp Chiffonade Fresh Basil

Directions

For the Marinara:

In a large saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter.
When the butter has melted enough to coat the bottom of the pan, add in the onion, cut side down, the garlic, whole can of the San Marzano Tomatoes, Oregano, and Red Pepper Flakes. Bring to a low boil, mashing the tomatoes against the side of a wooden spoon when you stir the sauce.
When the sauce boils, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 40 minutes. The sauce will reduce down and concentrate all the flavors, and the sauce will look sheeny and slick from the butter.
After 40 minutes at a simmer, taste the sauce and season with salt if needed. Discard the onion and smashed garlic cloves (or save to eat on bread if that’s your thing) and make sure the tomatoes have cooked down into a cohesive, chunky sauce. If there are still big tomato chunks, just smash them into smaller pieces with the wooden spoon against the side of the pan.

For the Chicken:

Preheat Oven to 350 F.
Prepare all the breading ingredients first. You will need 3 large shallow pans (I used 9 inch pie pans). In the first pan, place your flour and season with a bit of Salt and Pepper. Set aside.
In the second pan, whisk together the eggs and water. Set aside.
In the third pan, mix together the Panko Breadcrumbs, 1/2 Cup of the Parmesan, Granulated Garlic, Onion Powder, and 1 1/2 Tbsp of the Basil. Season with a bit of Salt and Pepper. Set aside. Set them up in this order, left to right, on the countertop next to the burner you will be frying the chicken in. Panko Breadcrumb mixture, Egg Mixture, and Flour Mixture. Setting it up this way ensures a smooth breading then frying process.
Over medium to medium high heat in a large, oven safe pan (Cast Iron or whatever you have that has high sides, heat the Olive Oil.
Cut the two chicken breasts in half completely, like you are going to butterfly them. Pat dry with paper towels. If the chicken is thicker than 1/2 inch thick, pound it down with a heavy bottom pan or meat mallet until it is a bit thinner.
Wash hands, then season both sides of all chicken pieces with Salt and Pepper. Now the chicken is ready to fry.
Take a single piece of chicken, thoroughly coat both sides in the flour mixture and shake off the excess flour. Then coat both sides in the egg mixture and shake off the excess egg, then coat both sides in the final Panko mixture thoroughly. Gently lay into the Olive Oil. Repeat breading process with one more piece of chicken, then fry both sides 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown but chicken does not need to be cooked through. Set aside to drain on paper towels. Repeat this process with the additional two pieces of chicken.
Take 1 Cup of the Marinara and pour into the pan where you fried the chicken. Then nestle the 4 chicken pieces into the sauce trying not to overlap the chicken as much as possible. Top each piece of chicken with 2 Tbsp Marinara, 2 Tbsp of Parmesan, then 2 Pieces of the Fresh Mozzarella. (This will total another 1/2 Cup Marinara, 1/2 Cup Parmesan, and 8 oz of Mozzarella altogether).
Sprinkle with the remaining Basil and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

For Pasta and to Serve:

In a large pot, generously salt and boil water and cook Spaghetti until just under al dente. You will finish cooking the Pasta in the Marinara Sauce.
When the pasta is just under al dente, carefully drain and dump pasta into the large sacuepot that contains the rest of the Marinara. Add to this the remainder of the Basil, Parmesan Cheese, and thoroughly mix everything together. I find tongs are the best kitchen tool to do this easily. Heat for an additional 2-3 minutes until sauce absorbs into the pasta and it is al dente.
Taste, then Salt the pasta if needed, though the Parmesan should be sufficient.
Serve pasta and chicken together with additional Basil and Parmesan Cheese fi desired.