Baked Chicken Parmesan

Few months ago, I cooked Chicken Parmigiana as my big kids loved cheesy stuff. With some grated parmesan cheese in the fridge, I wanted to whip up this dish again. But I dreaded the long long list of ingredients and find that the cooking steps were quite cumbersome though ... "Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes per side in the frying pan, then transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the oven ..." 

Oh ! Got 'short-cut' :D Chance upon this recipe which seems simplified and is pretty easy and straight forward to whip up some baked chicken with parmesan cheese for our weeknight dinner ... lesser cooking utensils to wash ... Gosh! Lazy old me ... hee hee!

Recipe adapted from simply recipes baked chicken parmesan, with slight changes made as I've halved the recipe and omitted certain spices/ingredients not available.

Baked Chicken Parmesan 
INGREDIENTS
Sauce:
1 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt and dash of black pepper

Chicken:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lime juice
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (or deboned thighs)
50g Panko breadcrumbs
90g finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

METHOD
1) Prepare the sauce. In a large saucepan, heat the garlic and oil together over medium high heat until the garlic starts to sizzle. Pour in the tomato sauce, sugar, dried rosemary, a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until sauce about 10 minutes. Taste sauce, adjust seasoning if necessary, cover and keep warm.

2) Preheat oven to 200°C (the oven temperature may vary, do adjust accordingly).
Cut each chicken breast half in half for smaller pieces. With a meat pounder, pound the chicken pieces to flatten them to an even thickness - between 1/4 - 1/2 inch. You might find it easier to put the chicken between layers of plastic wrap before pounding.

3) Whisk together mustard, lime juice, salt and dash of pepper a large bowl, add the chicken pieces, tossing to coat well.

4) In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, grated cheese, and dash of pepper. Mix well and add in the melted butter.

Transfer to a shallow plate. Dredge the chicken pieces 1 piece at a time in the crumb mixture, coating completely. Press the crumbs in gently to adhere and transfer to a stick-free baking sheet. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 - 18 minutes.
Note: At about 7 minutes into baking, I used tongs to turn chicken over and bake until golden brown and cooked through.

Serve with a side of rice or pasta. Ladle sauce over the chicken.

Hee hee .. a nice big 8 !

Both my big kids loved it very much. Enjoyed our dinner with tender juicy baked chicken parmesan ... yummy!

Happy baking & cooking. .. have a great week ahead ^-^!

Submitting this post to the event : Little Thumbs Up - April 2015 Theme Chicken organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe