Once upon a time, my moderately picky (but developing his palette) husband tried a chicken parmesan at our favorite locally owned Italian joint, and he has never turned back. If you are native to Southeast Kansas or our local four-state region, chances are you have had Josie’s Ristorante. If you haven’t tried their Chicken Parm, you need to run, not walk to get this cheesy heaven in your mouth immediately.
I have been trying to duplicate Josie's Chicken Parmesan for quite some time, but always failing. Their sauce is the impossible-to-copy secret. Just go try it before I get mad. So, I've created my own version.
We have found the key to a kickass Chicken Parmesan is a thin piece of chicken covered in mass amounts of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
I lay my raw chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with parchment, then use a poultry mallet to hammer the chicken into a thin, even piece. For sure cover the chicken with something so that you don’t send
bits of raw chicken all over your kitchen. Gross when you find it stuck to something a few days later.
I like to use different things to bread my chicken (breadcrumbs, panko, crushed cornflakes, oatmeal), but this time I went with a mix of panko, shredded parmesan cheese and rosemary leaves. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs; super versatile and smells like heaven.
Preheat your oven to 425. Now, get your assembly line ready for dipping. Have a heavy baking pan greased and ready to put your chicken in. Start by dredging the flattened chicken in flour, next egg, and lastly your breadcrumb or panko mixture.
I like to bake the chicken first, and then prepare my sauce for the top as the chicken is nearing the end (about 25 minutes). Sometimes I’ll make homemade sauce, and others I’ll use store bought marinara sauce that I like to doctor up a bit. This time, I went with the latter. It just saves time.
Start by pouring 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Once warm, add in whatever fresh herbs you like, but I like rosemary sprigs, basil leaves, fresh or dry oregano, and full or smashed garlic cloves, and crushed red pepper flakes. Once they become fragrant, reduce the heat to low, and pour in store bought red sauce to simmer. Use tongs to pull out herbs before serving.
After about 25-27 minutes in the oven at 425, pull the crusted chicken out. I added small cubed pieces of mozzarella cheese to the top, turned the oven up to 450, and it put it back in the oven for an additional 5-7 minutes. Once the cheese is melting nicely, pull it out one last time to top with red sauce. Turn your broiler on. Spoon a good amount of sauce onto each piece of chicken, and put back in the oven until bubbly, about 3-5 minutes.
This step is optional as you can serve chicken parmesan with spaghetti, toasted raviolis, just a side salad, literally nothing because it's so good and filling, etc. I went with cheese and spinach stuffed tortellini. While your chicken is in the broiler with the sauce, have a pot of salted water boiling and ready to add in tortellini. It only takes about 4 minutes to cook. After boiling for 4 minutes, quickly drain and add to a bowl. I added butter and a little bit of garlic salt to toss the tortellini’s in and it was perfect.
Top your plate with a little bit of additional parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese and you have the perfect Italian night right at home!
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients:
3-4 large chicken breast
½ - 1 C. Flour
2 C. Panko
2 T. Rosemary leaves
2 eggs
½ C. shredded parmesan, plus more for the top
½ C. cubed mozzarella cheese
1 Jar marinara sauce (I love Trader Joes Tomato Basil)
2 T. olive oil
Crushed red pepper flakes
1-2 whole garlic cloves
Fresh rosemary spring, optional
Fresh basil leaves, optional
Fresh oregano, optional
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 425. Lay the chicken flat on a cutting board and cover with parchment paper, pounding into flat thin pieces.
2. Dredge your chicken in flour first, then egg, then a mixture of 2 cups panko breadcrumbs, 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese, and 2 tablespoons rosemary leaves. Put them in a greased baking pan.
3. Bake your chicken on 425 for about 25-27 minutes.
4. While the chicken bakes, prepare your sauce: pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil into a skillet or sauce pan over medium heat and add your herbs of choice. I like rosemary, basil, and garlic gloves. Reduce your heat to low and add in your jarred marinara sauce. Cover the sauce and simmer until you’re ready to top the chicken breasts with it. Remove the fresh herbs with tongs before serving.
5. Once your chicken is turning golden brown, pull it out and turn the oven up to 450. Cover your chicken breasts with cubed or shredded mozzarella cheese. Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes.
6. Once the cheese is melted down, again remove the chicken from the oven. Turn the broiler on high. Spoon a generous amount of sauce onto each piece of chicken, and then top with a little bit more parmesan. Return to the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.
7. Serve with your favorite pasta!
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