Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni

In the pan it looked prettiest:)

My daughter wanted pasta, I didn't and I didn't have any "pasta" dishes planned. I did, however, have this chicken Parmesan with pepperoni planned, and I had planned to have pasta as the starch. Even though I am not a huge fan of chicken, or pepperoni, it is totally something the boys would love.  I also try, with varying degrees of success, to vary our proteins across the week, so chicken must come up about 1/7th of the time.  It didn't photograph well, but it was pretty dang tasty.  I bought the thin cutlets so I wouldn't need to pound the chicken to 3/4" but I should have and it really should have been more like 1/2" to cook through in the amount of time stated.  I also found something I didn't do, process the panko to fine powder.  It amazes me how often I miss something when I read each recipe at least 10 times!  And I personally, bought the "sandwich" pepperoni from the deli counter, so it would be larger in diameter and thinly sliced.  I covered the cooked chicken with a even layer so you got pepperoni in every bite.  The instructions just say top it.  The pepperoni didn't over whelm either.  It just added some nice flavor to the end dish.


Chicken Parmesan With Pepperoni

2 large eggs
1/4 Cup milk
1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
2 Cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) finely crushed in a food processor
Four 8-ounce skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 Cup canola oil
1 1/2 Cup tomato sauce
1/4 Cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 Cup shredded mozzarella
2 ounces sliced pepperoni
2 Tbl chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 450. In a pie plate, beat the eggs with the milk.
Spread the flour and panko in 2 separate pie plates. Season the chicken
all over with salt and pepper and dust in the flour. Dip the chicken in
the egg mixture and then in the panko; press to help the crumbs adhere.
2. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the chicken
and fry over moderately high heat, turning once, until cooked through,
about 7 minutes. Drain the chicken on paper towels, then transfer to a
rimmed baking sheet. Top the chicken with the tomato sauce, Parmigiano,
mozzarella and pepperoni.
3. Bake the chicken for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and
bubbling. Transfer the chicken to plates, sprinkle with the parsley and
serve.

As you can see, garnish was not making it look any better, perhaps worse:)