Experimenting: Chicken Marinara

Chicken breasts are versatile for dinner dishes, and this dish is no exception. My sister and I have only experimented with cooking chicken breasts once before, when we made Rosemary Chicken Breasts paired with Red Potatoes and String Beans. We wanted to try out a new recipe for chicken breasts, so Charmaine did recipe researching, and found what is called Chicken Marinara. This recipe is also from Simply Recipes.

Ingredients:
8 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 shallots, peeled, chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
9 boneless chicken thighs (skinless or skin-on, your preference), if large pieces, then cut in half
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Mix in basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Blend breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in small bowl. Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls. Coat chicken with flour, then eggs, then breadcrumb mixture.

3. Heat remaining oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken and sauté until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Place chicken pieces on a microwave-proof serving dish. Spoon sauce over chicken pieces. Sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese. Microwave on high heat for 10-20 seconds, just until the cheese has melted.

Serves 6.

The ingredients list says that you can use chicken thighs, but we ended up using chicken breasts, which also turned to be a great substitute. We only had four chicken breasts though, but four chicken breats is enough to make six servings as well. For the marinara sauce, we actually used Ragu Garden Organic Veggie Pasta Sauce, which ended up working just fine, and if you're in a hurry, it's a quick way to make the sauce. It also included tomatoes, so we didn't have to add the crushed tomatoes separately (we didn't have any crushed tomatoes on-hand). The cheese didn't actually melt as much as we wanted it to, but it still tasted fine. By the way, we used Panko breadcrumbs.

Verdict: The crispiness of the bread crumbs paired with the parmesan cheese and marinara sauce made the chicken taste wonderful. I especially liked the tenderness of the chicken; cooking the chicken 4 minutes to each side is really a good enough time measurement, I'd say, if you have 4 fairly large chicken breasts. You can add an extra minute of cooking to each side for extra crispiness. My dad liked the chicken and Charmaine and I were pleased with its flavor. We did a lot of substituting but it ended up good in the end. Bread (namely Pan de Sal, hehe) tastes great with this chicken, and it tastes good with an extra sprinkle of crushed red pepper. If you pair this with the macaroni salad, you've got yourself a good meal :)

Thanks, Simply Recipes! We enjoyed it!

Recipe courtesy of Simply Recipes: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004191chicken_marinara.php