Chicken parmigiana

Be it parmi or parma, there's nothing that beats this pub grub classic. Dress it up a bit with fresh herbs and pepper.

Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  4

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, about 180-200 g each
• 4 eggs
• 100 g plain flour
• 200 g panko breadcrumbs
• 200 g pecorino Romano, finely grated
• olive oil, for pan-frying
• 4 slices prosciutto
• 200 g good-quality mozzarella, thinly sliced  
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 cup parsley leaves

Tomato sauce

• 60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 litre tomato passata
• small handful parsley leaves, finely chopped
• salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. For the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and stir for 5-6 minutes or until soft. Add the tomato passata and basil, reduce the heat to low and simmer until reduced by half. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley, season to taste and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, butterfly each chicken breast to open up like a book. Place each breast between 2 sheets of baking paper and pound with a rolling pin until about 1-cm thick.
3. Place the eggs in a shallow bowl and lightly beat. Place the flour in an another and combine the breadcrumbs and pecorino in another.
4. Preheat the oven grill. Heat about 1 cm olive oil in a large heavy–based frying pan over medium–high heat.  When the oil is hot, cook the crumbed breasts until golden on both sides. Place the chicken on a large baking tray and cover each with a slice of prosciutto. Spoon over enough tomato sauce to cover well.
5. Grill until bubbling, then transfer to serving plates. Top with some sliced mozzarella, basil leaves, parsley leaves and a good drizzle of olive oil. Finish with a grind of black pepper and serve. 

 

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.