Chicken Parmigiana

I will admit that I've never been a real fan of the chicken parmigiana. In restaurants it's always oily and has too much cheese, plus they throw it on top of chips/fries, which go soggy! Not my idea of a good meal.

Andrew, my husband, however - loves it. So I thought I'd give it a go.
We had enough for 3 dinner serves, plus some leftovers for Andrew for work tomorrow. Probably if you want enough for 4 full dinner serves, use a bit extra chicken.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
4 slices bread
garlic
1 onion, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
italian herbs - fresh or dried
sugar or ketchup
jar of plain tomato pasta sauce (eg dolmio)
vegies to serve with
pasta/spaghetti
cheese
2 eggs


Slice the chicken thinly into 2 or 3 slices. Even is good, but no matter if they aren't. Whiz up your bread in the blender to make breadcrumbs and add a bit of garlic at the end. You can also add some parmesan cheese, but I couldn't find mine! Throw your eggs in a bowl and beat them up so they are nicely mixed with a fork.
Dip your chicken into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs. Coat them well.

Put them aside - in the fridge is good here.


In a saucepan, fry up the onion and some garlic. Then add your cans of tomatoes. I also added half a jar of dolmio tomato pasta sauce. This isn't necessary but helped give it a nice round flavour. Let it simmer for a while, and add some mixed Italian herbs. Also add a squirt of ketchup or a teaspoon of sugar. This will help the sauce not be too bitter as it can get from lots of tomatoes.

Once your sauce is cooked and has simmered for a while, get a frying pan and coat it with a decent amount of oil. I used olive oil but vegetable oil is fine. Get it to a good heat so you can shallow fry the chicken. Not too hot so as to burn them though!
Fry the chicken pieces for a few minutes each side. If they aren't fully cooked, that's ok as they will be going in the oven. Place each cooked piece on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle some sauce and a sprinkling of cheese on each one. I used a tiny bit each of parmesan (yeah, I managed to find it), regular cheese and mozzerella. Don't use too much cheese you don't want it oily and icky.

Whack that in the oven at 180C for 15 mins or so.
Cook your spaghetti according to packet directions, which usually takes around 10 mins. Drain it and stir the sauce through.

Serve on a plate with a nice amount of pasta, with the chicken on top and some greens around the side. I used green beans and carrots tonight.

Sorry I forgot to take a photo, but it was delicious!!!!!!!

Then we had chocolate pudding for dessert with fudge sauce and that was awesome!!!

Warm Chicken Pasta Salad

Found this recipe on taste.com.au and changed it quite a bit.
Here tis!

Cook 375g pasta (spirals, shells, bow ties etc) according to packet and drain.

Chop up 4 spring onions (scallions) and 1 red capsicum (bell pepper).

Lightly fry onions in a bit of olive oil - add 2 cloves minced garlic, and then the capsicum.

Fry for 5 mins till all are tender. Add 1 punnet of sliced grape tomatoes (I sliced each tomato into 4) and 1/2tsp minced red chilli. Cook another 2 mins or so. Add 300ml thickened cream and let it simmer for 3 mins until slightly thickened. Stir occasionally.

Place cooked pasta in a big bowl and add 1/2 a diced bbq chicken (alternatively pan fry 2 chicken breasts and then slice up thinly) and a few cups of baby english spinach, roughly chopped.

Pour cream and onion mixture over the top of the pasta and mix together.

Serve warm.
Serves 4-6 as a main meal.

Spaghetti a la Chittara

Dad found this recipe once in some Italian pasta cookbook - it isn't really called Spaghetti a la Chittara, it has a much much longer name, but that's what we call it (because I think the chittara bit is really just... pasta).
Anyways, it's simple and delicious!

You need:
500g pork mince
1 or 2 tins diced tomatoes
1tsp minced chilli (or to taste)
1 large or 2 small onions
3tbsp tomato paste
spaghetti

Dice the onions and saute in a little olive oil. Add the mince and cook until browned and the lumps have come out. Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15-20 mins until it's well cooked.
Serve with regular spaghetti pasta and some fresh parmesan or romano cheese if you like it.
I think the more onion in it, the better, so experiment! I would normally use 2 largish onions, not just one, but it's up to you really. As for the tinned tomatoes, start with 1 tin, you may need a 2nd one if the mixture is too dry.
Oh! My idea of a tablespoon, for the tomato paste, well my tablespoons are rather... erm... large. 3 gobs of it will do fine. :p

So easy, but really delicious! It is one of our family favourites, although I haven't made it in a LONG time... I think it will be on the books this week or next. :)