My Chicken Parm with Fresh Tomato Sauce is so much tastier than regular old Chicken Parm. Making the sauce is a bit of a process, because you need to peel fresh plum tomatoes and then chop all of them up. But it’s worth that energy, especially when tomatoes are in season.
To peel a tomato skin off a tomato, you need to cut out the core, score an X on the side opposite the core, plunge that sucker into boiling hot water, wait around for 2 to 3 minutes, scoop out the hot tomatoes into a bowl of ice ice baby ice water, swirl it around, peel off the skin, chop.
You got that?
Is it a pain in the bootie? Well, maybe. But I’m the type who clears my mind in the cucina, so tomato peelin’ is all good in my hood. In addition to my tutorial, I will provide you with my totally awesome fresh tomato sauce recipe and how to roll it all together into a chicken parm that is SO much better than that slop you pick up at your go-to takeout joint.
Can’t you just see the freshness?!
Chicken Parmesan with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Course: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium6
servings40
minutes1
hourIngredients
- For the Fresh Tomato Sauce
2 to 3 lbs. plum tomatoes (Instructions to peel are below.)
8 fat cloves of garlic, sliced
15 to 20 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- For the Chicken Parmesan
2 lbs. thin chicken cutlets (About 10-12)
2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups Italian style bread crumbs, such as Cento
Extra virgin olive oil
Sliced or shredded mozzarella
1 1/2 cups of fresh tomato sauce (recipe is below)
Directions
- To peel the tomatoes for the sauce
- With a paring knife, cut out the core on the end of the tomato. On the opposite end, cut a small X.
- Bring a large pot of water to a roiling boil. In a separate bowl, set up an ice bath with plenty of ice cubes and water.
- In batches, plunge about five or six prepared tomatoes into the pot of boiling water. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until skin becomes loose.
- Using a spider ladle or a slotted spoon transfer cooked tomatoes to the large bowl of ice water.
- Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove from ice water. Gently peel off the skin of each tomato. Chop into bite size pieces and place in a bowl until ready to make the sauce.
- To make the Fresh Tomato Sauce
- Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Add garlic, cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes if using.
- Add tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add fresh basil. Set aside until ready to use.
- Reserve about 1 1/2 cups of sauce for chicken parmesan. To serve the remaining sauce over pasta, add a few ladles of pasta water and add cooked pasta to warm sauce. Drizzle with olive oil and serve!
- To make the Chicken Parmesan
- Set up an assembly line as follows: Chicken cutlets; bowl of beaten eggs; plate of bread crumbs. Dip each cutlet in the eggs, then the bread crumbs. Set aside.
- In a large frying pan, heat up a 2 to 3 Tbsp. olive oil over medium high heat. Brown chicken cutlets for about 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to soak up excess oil. Repeat with remaining cutlets.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once the cutlets are cool enough to handle, transfer to a clean baking sheet. Top each browned cutlet with a handful of shredded mozzarella or a few slices of fresh mozzarella. Top with a couple of spoonfuls of sauce.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melty and delicious. Serve with your fave pasta and more sauce!
