Chicken parmigiana

Before you start

• an oven
• a wide pan for frying
• about 1h15

Ingredients

Serves 2 · dimmer marks are storecupboard

• 320gchicken breast — two, split through the middle and beaten out to an even thickness
• 25gplain flour
• 1eggs
• 60gbreadcrumbs — dry and fine, not fresh — fresh crumb goes soft rather than crisp
• 100gbuffalo mozzarella
• 25gparmesan
• 1 tintinned tomatoes
• 1½ tbspolive oil
• 2garlic cloves
• 1 handfulbasil

Method

7 steps

1. chop · 6m

   Chicken split and beaten between two sheets until it is an even centimetre all over. Even thickness is what lets it cook through before the crumb burns.

2. simmer · 16m

   Garlic softened in a little of the oil, tomatoes crushed in and cooked down until thick, salted, basil in at the end.

3. fold · 8m

   Flour, beaten egg and crumb in three plates. Each cutlet floured and shaken off, through the egg, then pressed HARD into the crumb on both sides — the pressing is the whole difference between a crust and a plate of loose breadcrumbs.

4. rest · 10m walk away

   Crumbed cutlets on a plate in the fridge, which sets the coating so it stays where it was put.

5. fry · 10m

   The rest of the oil in a wide pan on a medium heat, cutlets in and turned once when the underside is deep gold. They are not cooked through at this point and are not meant to be.

6. roast · 15m

   Into a dish, a spoon of sauce on each, mozzarella torn over, parmesan on top, and into a hot oven until the cheese is molten and browning. The chicken must be cooked right through — no pink at the thickest part and the juices clear.

7. finish · 2m

   Basil over, and the rest of the sauce round the plate rather than on the crust.