Pollo alla Parmigiana (Chicken Parmesan)

This is not so much a classic Italian dish, more like an American take on a classic Italian dish. Chicken Parmesan is known more in the United States and outside of Italy, whereas the traditional dish, Melanzane alla Parmigiana, uses aubergine/eggplant. The rest of the ingredients remain the same and the methods of preparation are fairly similar, with the exception that the aubergine parmigiana is made up of layers of vegetable and sauce, similar to a lasagne, whereas the chicken version is only one layer.

The name of this dish itself is a little misleading. Parmigiana means in the "Parma style", but this dish is not native to Parma in Northern Italy. Instead, it is a Southern Italian dish, with both Campania and Sicily claiming versions of the dish. The most likely explanation is that the dish is named after Parmigiana-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese, which is called for in the recipe as the cheese topping. Funnily enough though, there are plenty of chicken Parmigiana dishes out there that do not feature Parmesan cheese at all, using mozzarella in its place. So not only do they not come from Parma they also do not feature the most famous of Parma's delicacies, its' cheese!

Another theory on the Parmigiana name is that Parmigiana is an Italianisation of the Sicilian parmiciana, which refers to shutter slats, which closely resemble the layers of overlapping aubergine in the original dish. So for the versions using chicken instead of aubergine, and mozzarella instead of Parmesan, the name is a bit confusing to say the least. Maybe they should call this version "chicken"!

Anyway, names notwithstanding, both the chicken and aubergine versions are delicious, and not so difficult to make. You should give yourself at least a couple of hours though, as there are several steps involved, which are time consuming.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

4 skinless chicken breasts

300g plain flour

3 eggs

50ml milk

300g breadcrumbs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp oregano

olive oil to fry

For the tomato sauce:

2 tins plum tomatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp oregano

2 cloves garlic

For the assembly:

2 balls fresh mozzarella

75g grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp oregano

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Slice the chicken breasts horizontally to give you 2-3 slices per breast, 8-12 slices in total. To give them all an even thickness, they can be placed between two large pieces of clingfilm and beat with a meat tenderiser or mallet.  Each "escalope" should be about 1/2 cm thick. Season these lightly with salt and black pepper.

In 3 separate shallow dishes or bowls, assemble the flour in the first bowl, the eggs and milk in the second bowl, and the breadcrumbs in the third bowl. Beat the eggs and milk together to give an even egg wash. Distribute the paprika, oregano and salt and pepper evenly between the first (flour) and third (breadcrumbs) bowls and mix these in well.

In an assembly line fashion, dip each chicken escalope first in the flour, then in the egg wash and finally in the breadcrumbs, each time ensuring that the escalope is covered thoroughly and allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl. Repeat the process for all the chicken escalopes.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. You should have enough oil to cover the entire bottom of the pan but not enough to submerge the escalopes. When hot enough, shallow fry the escalopes a few at a time on both sides until golden brown. When done, drain these on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Fry these in a little olive oil in a high sided pan or pot on a gentle heat, making sure they do not burn. Add the plum tomatoes and chop/mash these in the pan until they are much smaller. Add the oregano, salt and black pepper and simmer this for about 20 minutes, until it is a smooth sauce.

Slice the 2 mozzarella balls into thin slices.

In a baking tray, place the breaded chicken escalopes along the bottom of the tray, overlapping slightly if they do not all fit. Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken pieces and spread it out until it covers everything. 

Add the sliced mozzarella over the sauce and then the grated Parmesan.

Put in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.

This dish can be served with a  number of things, on spaghetti with Neapolitan sauce, or with chips, or even with a nice seasonal salad.

Buon appetito! Enjoy!