I’m not much of a veal parmigiana lover. My husband loves it and often orders it in restaurants. I do like chicken parmigiana, or chicken “parm” and it’s frankly pretty easy to make. But, when you want to kick it up a bit, us good old Wisconsin gals simply throw more cheese at it…as in ricotta cheese!
I started playing around with this quite a while ago, pulling the filling from one old recipe and the cutlet from another. Of course, I always rely on my Irish Woman’s Red Sauce for anything that calls for marinara! I often start with the basic ingredients, then add or subtract based on what we love. Or, I combine the best parts of a couple recipes to come up with something new. I’m also a short-cut taker…why take 10 steps when you can do 4 or even 6, am I right?
Chicken parm is typically made with chicken cutlets – thin, flat pieces of chicken that’s coated in breadcrumbs and fried, then baked for a bit in marinara. As I started playing around with this recipe, I ended doing something miraculous…..sssssshhh….I “hid” spinach in it! You see, I also have to tell you my husband isn’t very good at eating vegetables. Oh, he’ll deny it till the cows come home (Get it? Wisconsin….cows!!). But he has a pretty limited repertoire of what’s acceptable and in what quantity in a single sitting! So, anytime I can finagle a vegetable into a dish I’m on it…especially one he can’t pick out and move to the side of his plate! This one is a “winner winner, chicken dinner”!
I hope you enjoy this simple recipe. It’s great for those with the most basic of cooking skills, too. In fact, you might enjoy teaching your kids how to make this. It’ll be an easy recipe they can take with them forever! In the ingredient list, you’ll see store-bought short-cuts in (parentheses) for the fast & easy route. Of course, you can take the more complicated route by making everything from scratch.
If you’re the “totally made from scratch” kind of person, head on over and check out my An Irish Woman’s Red Sauce and 5 Favorite Breadcrumbs in a Pinch!
Stuffed Chicken Parmigiana
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, approx. 3 large breasts (easy: get thin chicken cutlets, and pound them just a bit thinner)
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 bag fresh baby spinach approx. 6 oz
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 5 oz part-skim Ricotta cheese
- ¾ C grated parmesan
- ½ C plain breadcrumbs (easy: Italian pre-seasoned breadcrumbs)
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 egg beaten
- 4-5 C marinara sauce (easy: your favorite jar from store – our favorite is Bertolli Rustic Cut)
- 2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*. In a large skillet, drizzle olive oil and bring to medium temperature. Saute garlic for 1 minute, then add spinach. Saute until spinach starts to wilt. Remove from heat.
- While spinach is cooking, lay chicken breasts out on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slice in half horizontally, creating 2 flat pieces from each breast. You should have 6 pieces when finished. Flatten each piece with a meat mallet to approximately ¼-1/8” thick. To do this, place one piece into a plastic bag, lay flat on cutting board and pound with mallet. Repeat with remaining pieces.
- Set up your dredging station. Using two shallow dishes, place breadcrumbs and dried herbs in one, and beaten egg in the other. If using Italian seasoned bread crumbs, omit dried basil, dried oregano, and dried parsley.
- To make filling: once spinach has cooled slightly, chop into small pieces. In a small bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Dredging & Rolling
- Spray bottom of a 9”x9” or larger baking dish. (The size of your dish will depend on how large your breast pieces are. It should be a size to allow space between each piece) Add a thin layer (1/2 C) of marinara to the bottom of dish
- Lay out 1 piece of chicken. Spread a thin layer of filling across entire breast piece. Carefully roll the breast up from the short edge. Be careful to not roll so tight the filling squeezes out! Carefully roll in egg wash. Then roll in breadcrumbs, coating all sides.
- Place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat with remaining pieces. Leave space between each piece so that there’s room for heat to circulate. This will ensure coating becomes crusty. Top each piece with ½ C of marinara, then a generous sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. Bake 30 minutes; serve immediately.
I’m gonna def have to try this, my mouth is watering
Hope you enjoy! It’s a bit putzy but so worth the effort! let me know how it goes…