- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 gloves of garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup black olives, pitted
- 1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves
- 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
- Pinch sugar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 skinless, boneless, chicken breast (about 11/2 pounds)
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 cup dried bread crumbs
- 1 cup of mozzarella
- 1/4 cup of Parmesan
Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves;
cook and stir for 5 minutes until fragrant and soft. Add the olives and
some hand-torn basil. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like
tomatoes), cook and stir until the liquid is cooked down and the sauce
is thick, about 15 minutes; season with sugar, salt and pepper. Lower
the heat, cover, and keep warm.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little
assembly line. Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board
and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until
they are about 1/2-inch thick. Put the flour in a shallow platter and
season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to
distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat
until frothy. Put the bread crumbs
on a plate, season with salt and pepper.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large
oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in
the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the
bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4
minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.
Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with
mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil. Bake the Chicken Parmesan for 15
minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.