Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Who doesn’t like a classic like chicken parmesan?? Surprisingly, this gluten free version turns out just as crisp as its gluten alternative. The night I made this, I ran out of tomato sauce so I whipped up some homemade sauce. Definitely easier to skip this step and use store bought but tomato sauce isn’t too hard to make and nice to have the option up your sleeve.

To make the sauce, chop up an onion, two cloves of garlic, and a handful of baby carrot (about the same amount as two real carrots). In a stock pot, add some olive oil and once heated, add in the onion, garlic and carrots to satuee. Once veggies are softened, add in half a can of tomato paste and mix well with the veggies. Next, add in a can of diced tomatoes. Spice it up with some oregano and basil or leave as is. Bring the sauce up to a simmer and let everything meld together while you get the rest of the meal together. Once the sauce is ready to be served, blend it with a hand blender until smooth (or transfer to a blender to blend but a hand blender is sooooo much easier). The carrots give the sauce a bright vibrant color and a little more depth to the taste. This sauce will make way more than enough for this dish so freeze the rest to use for another meal.

For the chicken, the first step is to setup the breading station. There are three steps to breading the chicken: Flour, Egg, Bread Crumbs. Whisk two eggs in a bowl (big enough to dip the chicken cutlets in) and put a plate of flour and a plate of the bread crumbs out and ready. We use 4C Gluten Free Plain Crumbs. They are more coarse than regular bread crumbs but cook up nice and crisp. To prep the cutlets, cut into nice size pieces and pound to be even thickness. Working with one cutlet at a time, cover chicken cutlet in egg, then flour, then breadcrumbs, set aside to cook.

Once cutlet is breaded, heat vegetable oil in a ban. We need to do a shallow fry so there should be a decent amount of oil in the pan -enough to coat the bottom fully and about 1/4 inch depth. When oil is hot (test with a droplet of water), add in the cutlets. If making a large amount, cook in batches. Cook for about 5-7 minutes per side. Check chicken is done with a meat thermometer; it should be 165F.

Once chicken is cooked through, top with tomato sauce and cheese and cover. Cook until cheese is melted. Serve with some pasta and a salad for a full meal!

Chicken Parmesan

Ready in 45 minutes

Serves 2 people

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 – 1 lbs chicken breast (2 nice size cutlets)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour (GF)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (CF)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (may need more/less)
• 1/2 cup mozzarella or Italian blend cheese
• Tomato Sauce or 1/2 cup store bought sauce
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • handful baby carrots, chopped
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5oz)
  • 1/2 can of tomato paste (2-3 tbsp)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

PREPARATION

1. Make the tomato sauce:
   1. chop onion, garlic, carrots
   2. Heat olive oil in a stock pot
   3. Add onion, garlic, and carrots and cook until softened (about 5 minutes)
   4. Add in tomato paste and mix well with veggies (at least a few minutes)
   5. Add in diced tomatoes
   6. Add in additional spices if desired (oregano, basil)
   7. Simmer for 30 minutes
   8. Blend with an immersion blender.
2. Prepare chicken cutlets by trimming fat and pounding until even thickness.
3. Set up breading station: flour, whisked eggs, bread crumbs
4. Bread chicken one cutlet at a time
5. Add vegetable oil to pan (cover bottom and about 1/4 inch depth)
6. Once heated, add in breaded chicken cutlets. Cook for 5-7 minutes per side depending on thickness (165F with a meat thermometer).
7. Top with tomato sauce and cheese. Cover and cook until cheese is melted.
8. Enjoy!

TIPS

• For the tomato sauce, add in some red pepper flakes for a spicier version.
• Freeze leftover sauce to use for future meals.