My Perfected Chicken Parm

I've been trying to perfect my chicken parmesan recipe for the past few months, trying different ingredients out to find the best combinations. The secret, I've discovered, is using panko breadcrumbs and provolone cheese, instead of mozzerella. If you aren't familar with panko, you can typically locate it in the ethnic food aisle with the japanese products. Panko has a crispier, airier texture than regular breadcrumbs.

Chicken Parmesan
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Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; pounded thin
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 T Italian seasoning
1 egg
4 T olive oil
13 oz spaghetti sauce (1/2 of a regular sized jar)
4 pieces of provolone cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a saute pan with the olive oil and heat to medium-high. Mix together panko and Italian seasoning in a shallow dish. Beat egg in another shallow dish. Place chicken, one by one, in egg mixture to coat then transfer to panko mixture and coat evenly.

2. Place chicken in heated pan and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is browned and crispy. In a baking dish, evenly spread a small portion of the sauce across the bottom of the pan.

3. Place the chicken in the baking dish and pour the rest of the sauce evenly over the chicken. Pour parmesan cheese over the chicken and place a slice of provolone cheese on each piece of chicken. Cook for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and starts to brown. If after 20 minutes the cheese isn't melting, place under broiler for a few minutes until it melts.

Chicken Vino Bianco

I'm not gonna lie. I love the Olive Garden! With those breadsticks and that salad and all those carby entrees. I usually go into carb-shock within minutes of paying the check. The downsides are the wait is always at least an hour. (Seeeee all you OG haters! There are more of me!) So I decided to try to find a copycat recipe of my favorite entree that I get each and every time I go to the Olive Garden. This is the second time I've tried a "copycat" recipe for this dish and this one was right on!

Chicken Vino Bianco

Source: Recipezaar.com

Ingredients:

4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts; pounded thin

4 T olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1/2 cup small diced tomato
1/2 cup red onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, divided (cut to 5 T. No one needs that much butter)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lb uncooked linguine (I used spaghetti because thats what I had and cut it back to 3/4 lb. because I like my pasta wet with the wine sauce)
seasoned flour (for dusting)

FOR SEASONED FLOUR (this was way too much! I'd suggest cutting in half)
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large saute' pan. Dust chicken in seasoned flour. Cook chicken on both sides until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

2. Add 2 Tbsp butter to pan. Add green onion, diced tomato, red onion, mushrooms, garlic, chopped parsley, crushed red pepper, black pepper and salt to pan. Let saute' for three minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add chicken back to pan. Add white wine, lemon juice and the remainder of the butter.
Allow to come to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions. Add drained cooked pasta to the pan and toss together and serve.

Italian Stromboli

I used to work at a grocery store in college in the deli and we would prepackage strombolis for the public to purchase. The best part is you can customize them for your own cravings. My husband was muy impressed but if you've read any of my other blogs, you can see it doesn't take much. That's why I married him after all.

Italian Stromboli

Source: Simple but Delicious

Ingredients-

1 package Pillsbury pizza dough

1/4 lb hard salami

1/4 lb sandwich pepperoni

1/4 lb capricola ham

1.5 cups mozzarella cheese

1 small onion

sweet peppers

Italian seasoning

Pizza sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degress. Roll out your pizza dough. On half of the dough, place layer of ham, leaving 1/4 inch edge.

2. Repeat with salami and pepperoni, evenly covering half of dough. Cover with mozzarella cheese, onions, and peppers. Top with italian seasoning.

3. Cover the topping with the unused portion of the dough. Take a fork and press down edges to seal. Finish with another pinch of seasoning and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Use heated pizza sauce for dipping.

Lasagna

I always thought lasagna required waaaay too much effort with all those layers! I gave this recipe a try while at a friend's house for the weekend. I was surprised how easy it was and incredibly tasty.

Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

2 jars spaghetti sauce

1 package uncooked lasagna

4 cups (2 lbs) ricotta cheese

2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzerella cheese

1/4 cups grated parmesan cheese

4 eggs

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. Brown meat in a 3 qt saucepan; drain. Add sauce and simmer 10 minutes

2. Cook pasta according to package.

3. Combine cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour about 1/2 cup meat sauce on bottom of 13x9 inch baking pan arrange 4 pieces of pasta lengthwise over sauce, overlapping the edges. Spread 1/3 cheese mixture over pasta and cover with about 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers of pasta, cheese, and meat sauce twice. Top with a layer of pasta and remaining meat sauce; sprinkle with additional parmesean cheese, if desired

4. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350F about 30 minutes or until hot & bubbly. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Allow to stand 10 minutes before cutting for easier handling.

Margherita Pizza

For some reason, I started craving margherita pizza out of the blue. I've never made homemade pizza before but I decided to give it a shot and it was incredibly easy! I found a recipe online and made some adjustments and my, my, my was it good! My husband was very impressed as well.

Margherita Pizza
Source: Simple, but Delicious.

Ingredients-
1 package Pilsbury Pizza Dough
2 T extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves
3 Roma Tomatoes, sliced
Italian seasoning
Parsley
6 leaves Basil
6 oz. shredded mozzerella cheese
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions-
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Roll out pizza dough onto a baking stone. Press to desire thickness. Roll up outside 1 time to create crust.
3. Mix olive oil and garlic. Heat in microwave for 15 seconds to season oil. Spread half of mixture over the crust.
4. In remaining oil mix tomatoes and salt to coat tomatoes. Place tomatoes over top of crust. Cover with mozzerella. Top with italian seasoning, parsley, and basil. Sprinkle any remaining olive oil on top of pizza.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Top with parmesan cheese and cool for 2-3 minutes.