New Recipe: Chicken Parmigiana

I had defrosted some chicken breasts to make Thai coconut chicken, one of our favorite dishes, on Friday night, but as I was sorting through my pile of recipes I came across a new one I hadn't tried yet, chicken parmigiana. It looked yummy and I had all the ingredients plus plenty of time, so I figured I'd try that one instead. It turned out to be a great idea. I even remembered to take photos. I've added them to my cooking set over on Flickr.

Chicken Parmigiana: Makes 4 servings; 5 WW points per serving

Ingredients

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly pounded (four 4-oz pieces) [I used thin-sliced chicken breasts instead of pounding them myself.]
  
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs [I didn't measure--I just dumped a bunch in a bowl so that I'd have enough to coat the chicken.]
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning [Instead of using pre-mixed Italian seasoning, I added basil, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, and ground black pepper.]
  
• 1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste [I skipped this.]
  
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce [The baking pan I was using was bigger than the one the recipe called for, so I used 2 cups of tomato sauce to make sure the whole thing was coated.]
  
• 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded [I used a bit more than this.]
• 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. [I didn't have a square dish so I used a slightly larger rectangular one.]
  
• Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. Combine bread crumbs with Italian seasoning and salt; pour into another shallow bowl. Dip chicken in egg whites; turn to coat. Dip chicken in bread crumb mixture; turn to thoroughly coat.
  
• Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and add oil; heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken and cook until lightly browned and no longer pink in center, about 4 minutes per side.
  
• Pour 1/2 cup of sauce [I used about a cup] into prepared baking dish; place chicken in dish and pour remaining sauce evenly over chicken. Sprinkle with cheeses and bake until chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbly, about 25 minutes.

I served the chicken over whole wheat linguine; if you use six ounces (uncooked), it adds 3 WW points per serving.


The verdict: When Torsten got home, looking forward to the coconut chicken, and I told him I'd made something else instead, he was disappointed. But once he tasted it, he changed his mind. The recipe turned out to be delicious, and also very simple to make. We will definitely be making this one again--I'd say soon, but we've been saying that a lot this week, and there aren't enough days "soon" to fit everything in.