Courtesy of my Aunt Merry!
4 Chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded to 1/3” thickness
4 cups spaghetti sauce (home-made is always best - recipe below )
2 eggs, beaten with 2 tbsp water
Italian bread crumbs
Olive Oil
Mozzarella Cheese
Split chicken breasts in half, to make them thinner. Pound each half
under wax paper, until each piece measures about 1/3” thick.
Dip
each piece of chicken in an egg wash, then roll in Italian bread crumbs.
Pan-fry in 1/3 cup olive oil until both sides are browned and crusted,
about 3 minutes each side. (Don’t worry about cooking all the way
through, they will finish cooking in the oven.)
Place 1 cup of
spaghetti sauce in bottom of glass baking dish, to cover bottom. Place
cooked pieces of chicken directly on top of sauce, in a single layer.
When all pieces are browned, spoon additional spaghetti sauce over top,
to cover chicken. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered at
350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.
Sauce
My
sauce is pretty traditional - brown hamburger, cut up sweet Italian
sausage, bell pepper, garlic, and onion - season meat with oregano,
parsley, some garlic salt. Drain meat mixture after browning. Return
to pot. 1 add: 2 large cans of diced Italian
blend tomatoes, (or Roma's if you have a bunch) 1 large can of tomato
sauce, 14 oz tomato paste (or puree), 1 14 oz can of water, 2 bay
leaves, mushrooms, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and let
simmer on low all day. I usually let it sit in the fridge overnight to
intensify the flavor, and serve the next day. I also make a big pot so
it can be used for additional recipes. It freezes well also.
