Baked Chicken Parmesan

I came home from the library with plans to make Greek Spinach Feta Chicken Pockets. I had the chicken out defrosting and I was going over the ingredients in my head when I realized I should take a look at the puff pastry in the freezer. At this point I was getting VERY hungry. I read the directions on the puff pastry box which said "defrost for 2 hours or in fridge over night". I could not wait that long. My belly was rumbling.

Now here I was with a defrosted chicken breast and no idea what I was making for dinner. I decided to take a look at what food recipes I'd bookmarked recently incase there was something simple and with chicken. Baked Chicken Parmesan to the rescue!!

This recipe is incredible easy and simple. Ingredients: desired chicken amount (I used 1 chicken breast),   seasoned breadcrumbs (or plain breadcrumbs you can season yourself), parmesan cheese, butter, garlic, mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce (I made my own - can use store bought).

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 (I had it at about 400-425 and it worked just fine). I just realized it says to spray your baking sheet... I did not and I didn't have any problem with sticking. Spray lightly, if at all.

Step 2: Combine breadcrumbs with parmesan in a bowl. Because my breadcrumbs were not seasoned, I also added chopped fresh thyme and s&p. 

Step 3: Melt butter in a bowl. The original recipe does not call for garlic, but I chopped up some garlic and put it in with the butter. Excellent decision, if I do say so myself.

Step 4: Now it says to 'lightly brush' butter onto the chicken and then dip it into the bread crumbs... I dipped it in the garlic butter and made sure it got nice and covered and then dipped it in the the breadcrumbs (perhaps this is why I didn't need to grease the pan). Put finished pieces on the baking sheet. Drizzle some of the extra butter (if there is some) on top of the chicken pieces.

Step 5: Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake for another 5. 

Step 6: While the chicken is baking, heat up marinara sauce. I made a very simple sauce using a splash of red wine, garlic, thyme, salt/pepper, red pepper flakes and Passata sauce (a tomato purée I use for all my tomato sauces - look into it, it's very handy!).

Step 7: When the chicken is done baking, spoon sauce over each piece of chicken and then top each piece with shredded mozzarella. The original recipe says 1 tbsp sauce and 1 1/2 tbsp of cheese, but I put as much as I wanted. Cause I do what I want. Bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese is melted!

Bon Appetit!