Chicken Parmesan

This recipe comes from Bon Appetit magazine. A friend made this for us and my husband could not get enough. He's been asking for me to make this for some time, now. He even used one of his special dinner coupons that I gave him for our anniversary.

This recipe actually comes from Otto, Mario Batali's NY Pizzeria. It is so delicious, as is! This might be one recipe I'll never tinker with.

Ingredients

Basic Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup coarsely grated peeled carrots
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 28-ounce cans peeled whole tomatoes in juice

Chicken
10 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
3 cups fresh breadcrumbs (from crustless French bread ground in processor)
2 large eggs
1 cup (about) all purpose flour
6 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided
3 cups coarsely grated well-drained fresh water-packed mozzarella,* divided
1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 1/4 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram

Preparation

basic tomato sauce

Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add carrots and thyme; sauté until carrots are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice; bring to boil, coarsely crushing tomatoes with potato masher or fork. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to generous 5 cups, about 1 hour. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Rewarm sauce before using.

chicken

Place chicken breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using meat mallet or rolling pin, pound chicken breasts to 1/3-inch thickness. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Spread breadcrumbs on plate. Whisk eggs to blend in medium bowl. Spread flour on another plate. Coat both sides of chicken with flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add chicken to skillet and cook until brown, about 2 minutes per side, adding more oil as needed (chicken will not be cooked through). Transfer chicken to platter. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange 1 layer of chicken over sauce. Spoon 2 cups sauce over. Sprinkle half of mozzarella, Parmesan, and Pecorino over. Repeat with remaining chicken, sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan, and Pecorino. Bake until cheeses melt and chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and marjoram and serve.

*Available in 1/3 -ounce, 1-ounce, and 8-ounce balls at many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Italian markets. Regular mozzarella can be substituted.

Tonight's dinner

Well tonight was a rare occasion. Connor and Lillee had been gone all afternoon with Grandma and I spent this time baking a pear preserve cake and biscuits for my cultural cooking meeting. By the time I cleaned the kitchen and the kids got back home I was running out of time. Lillee said she wanted pancakes for dinner and, I NEVER do this, but I gave in to the exhaustion, being behind schedule and wanting to be out of the kitchen. Pancakes it was...for the kids.

I went to my cultural cooking group and had some really delicious food! Our theme this month was pears, apples and cheese...anything you can do with one or all three of these components. I chose pears. I had canned spicy pear preserves last month and one of my favorite foods growing up was hot biscuits and pear preserves. So I made some fresh biscuits and also put together a pear preserve cake (think spiced bundt cake with layers of pear preserves and pecans).

The other ladies had brought wonderful contributions that served to be a delicious and not too unhealthy dinner. I had 7 different kinds of cheese...my favorites were:

1. Parrano - think Parmesan but softer...a texture like butter that's between fridge cold and room temperature

2. St Andre - think intense brie, but buttery

3. Port Salut - this is a very mild cheese with a soft texture, but with substance. I'm not sure how to describe it, you could poke it with your finger and see an indentation, but it would return to it's original form, yet not rubbery. Loved the texture and the mild flavor, a good cheese to serve to a crowd without fear of it being too overwhelming.

We had several different varieties of apples and pears. A wonderfully balanced salad with spinach, avocado, apple, walnuts and some Paul Newman dressing...LOVELY! There were several truly divine baked goods including an apple cake and an apple, pear and cranberry crumble...YUM!

However, my favorite is something you can easily replicate without a recipe! Take some good feta...my friend Gloree suggested a Bulgarian Feta instead of a Greek Feta, but we actually had a nice Greek Feta (not Athenos brand). Crumble the feta on a plate, sprinkle with chopped walnuts and drizzle with honey. The layers in this simple piece are amazing. You get a silky, yet pungent bite from the feta with a sticky sweet honey flavor mixing with the crunch and the slightly bitter, yet not offensive, taste that is distinctly walnut.

So dinner was pretty shabby for my kids, but a HUGE splurge for them. And mine was spectacular and not at all conventional :) My poor husband got nothing. I bet he'll be nuking a can of spaghettiO's later tonight.

UPDATE: I had no sooner posted this when my husband ran to the kitchen proclaiming he was starved and had to eat....he's making Ramen, his other standby.