Recipe

December 21, 2018

Skillet Chicken Parm With Spicy Breadcrumbs

Recipe: Mark Bittman

Total Time: 30 minutes

Try this Skillet Chicken Parm With Spicy Breadcrumbs recipe from the cookbook Dinner For Everyone.

Mark Bittman Dinner For EveryoneThere’s your red-checkered-tablecloth-restaurant red-sauce standard, and then there is this dish. Skillet Chicken Parm With Spicy Breadcrumbs has all the components of the original dish, minus the pounding or frying. When you go vegan, lots of breadcrumbs are an asset: Some cook on the eggplant and some brown in the pan for a spectrum of textures. (Up the ante with a grain-packed bread.) For times when I go to the trouble to make a big production of an Italian-American red gravy for Best Chicken Parmigiana, there had better be plenty of it. Maybe more than you need, but the leftovers won’t go to waste, right?

Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs, preferably panko
  • Salt and pepper
  • ¼ tsp red chile flakes, or to taste
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 oz.)
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1½ lbs.)
  • 1½ cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 oz.)

Directions

Yield: 4 servings

  1. Put 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the breadcrumbs, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the red chile flakes and stir to combine, then transfer the breadcrumbs to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
  2. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet and return to medium heat. When it’s hot, add the garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and wine and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles steadily. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down a bit while you prepare the chicken.
  3. Put the chicken on a flat surface and put your hand on top of one. Carefully slice the breast in half parallel to the cutting board to make 2 thin cutlets; repeat with the other breast.
  4. When the sauce has thickened, nestle the cutlets into the skillet, adjust the heat to a steady but gentle bubble, and cover. Cook, undisturbed, until the chicken is opaque around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn, top each with some cheese, and cover again. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink inside and the cheese has melted, another 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning of the sauce. Serve the chicken topped with sauce and sprinkled with breadcrumbs.
Source:

Reprinted from Dinner for Everyone: 100 Iconic Dishes Made 3 Ways—Easy, Vegan, or Perfect for Company. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Bittman. Photographs by Aya Brackett. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.