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Categories:
chicken salt freshly ground black pepper flour bread crumbs eggs vegetable oil tomatoes cheese extra-virgin olive oil garlic tomatoes tomatoes fresh basil
Viewed: 79 - Published at: 8 years agoIngredients
- 4 boneless and skinless chicken thighs or breast halves (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- All-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup fine, dry bread crumbs or Seasoned Bread Crumbs 2 (page 20)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil, or as needed
- 3 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and sliced thin
- 6 ounces fresh mozzarella or Italian Fontina cheese, sliced thin
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling over the finished dish
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 8 ripe tomatoes or
- 12 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (see page 9)
- 1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
Method
- Cut off any fat, bone, and gristle remaining on the chicken thighs.
- Place two thighs between two sheets of plastic wrap.
- Pound them lightly with the toothed side of a meat mallet to a more or less even thickness.
- Dont over-pound the thighs or they will shred and be difficult to bread and cook.
- Repeat with the remaining thighs.
- Season the chicken thighs lightly with salt and pepper.
- Spread out the flour and bread crumbs on two separate plates.
- Beat the eggs in a wide, shallow bowl until thoroughly blended.
- Dredge the chicken in flour to coat lightly and tap off excess flour.
- Dip the thighs in the beaten egg and hold them over the bowl, letting the excess egg drip back into the bowl.
- Transfer the chicken, one piece at a time, to the plate of bread crumbs; turn it to coat with bread crumbs, patting gently and making sure that each thigh is well coated with bread crumbs.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a wide, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until a corner of one of the coated thighs gives off a lively sizzle when dipped in the oil.
- Add to the oil as many of the chicken pieces as fit without touching.
- Fry, turning once, until golden on both sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes.
- Remove to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and drain well.
- Remove the paper towels from the baking sheet.
- Top each chicken thigh with overlapping slices of tomato, dividing the tomato evenly.
- Drape the sliced cheese over the tomatoes to cover the chicken completely.
- (The chicken parmigiana can be prepared to this point up to several hours in advance.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.)
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a wide, nonreactive skillet.
- Whack the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and drop them into the oil.
- Cook, shaking the pan, until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
- Carefully slide the chopped tomatoes into the skillet, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Bake the chicken until the cheese is lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
- While the chicken is baking, reheat the tomato sauce to simmering, stir in the basil, and taste, seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Spoon the sauce onto a heated platter or plates, and place the chicken over the sauce.
- Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the sauce and serve immediately.
- Pound four 5-ounce pork or veal cutlets with a meat mallet, one at a time, between two sheets of plastic wrap to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
- Bread, brown, and bake the cutlets as described above, and serve them with the same fresh tomato sauce.
