Recipe of the Week: Baked Chicken Parmesan

This week I made another Simply Recipes dish and like always it turned out great.  In fact Albert gave it five out of five stars and said the chicken was better than any he had ever made, which is a huge compliment because he makes good chicken.  We used the left over chicken on salad and it was good too.  You can find the Baked Chicken Parmesan recipe here.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes since crushed are hard to come by, I would recommend adding a can of tomato sauce if you do this since it wasn't as saucy as I would have liked)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and ground black pepper

Chicken:

• 3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp white-wine vinegar (I used cooking white wine)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 (5-oz) skinless boneless chicken breast halves (I used a pound of chicken tenderloins)
• 3/4 cup of {gf}breadcrumbs (can make them from old French bread)
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Prepare the sauce. In a large saucepan, heat the garlic and oil together over medium high heat until the garlic starts to sizzle. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until sauce thickens a bit and flavors meld, about 10-12 minutes. Taste sauce, adjust seasoning if necessary, cover and keep warm.
2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Cut each chicken breast half in half for smaller pieces. With a meat pounder, pound the chicken pieces to flatten them to an even thickness - between 1/4 - 1/2 inch. You might find it easier to put the chicken between layers of plastic wrap before pounding.
3. Whisk together mustard, vinegar, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a large bowl, add the chicken pieces, tossing to coat well.
4. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, grated cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Mix well and add in the melted butter. Transfer to a shallow plate. Dredge the chicken pieces 1 piece at a time in the crumb mixture, coating completely. Press the crumbs in gently to adhere and transfer to a stick-free baking sheet. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
5. Serve with a side of rice or {gf} pasta (I used gf quinoa spaghetti). Ladle sauce over the chicken.

Serves 4.