Chicken Parmesan

This is my husband Michael's favorite Italian dish.  I made it tonight for the first time (this particular recipe) and it was delicious!  My kids even liked it!!  The only "complaint" I have (and it was so delicious that it's not really a complaint, thus the quotes) is that the breading does come off easily when handling the chicken after pan frying and while eating, but if you ask me, it doesn't really matter, it tasted awesome!!  I served it with noodles (buttered & salted for my son who isn't as fond of spaghetti and with sauce for the rest of us) and green beans with a little butter and garlic salt.  Yummy!!

Enjoy!
Kirsten

PS: This recipe is from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, by Elana Amsterdam.  She also has an AWESOME blog, which you'll find at:  www.elanaspantry.com.


CHICKEN PARMESAN


2 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups spaghetti sauce
2 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1)  Preheat the oven to 350F.

2)  Rinse the chicken and pat dry.  Cut the chicken breasts horizontally, butterflying them open, then pound each with a meat mallet to flatten.  Cut each breast into 2 pieces.

3)  In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.  Dip each cutlet into the egg, then coat with the almond flour mixture.

4)  Heat the grapeseed and olive oils in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Saute the chicken in the oil for 3-5 minutes per side, until golden brown.  Transfer the chicken to a paper towel lined plate.

5)  Pour 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce into a 13x9 inch baking dish.  Place the cutlets in a single layer over the sauce.  Cover the chicken with the remaining sauce, then top with mozzarella.

6)  Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the edges are bubbling.  Remove from the oven and top with grated Parmesan before serving.

NOTES:

~I used 3 breasts and it was enough for 4 people with a good amount of leftovers.

~The author of this cookbook does not recommend Bob's Red Mill Blanched Almond Flour for her recipes, especially for baking, but it was the only one that I found at Fruitful Yield, so I used it and it was okay for this recipe.  I did order a better brand on-line.  Bob's Red Mill is a little more coarse and will definitely make a difference in your recipes, especially for baking!  Also, it's much cheaper to order it on-line!  I ordered mine from Honeyville Grain.

~I used kosher salt, instead of sea salt.

~In the cookbook, the author refers to a "Tomato Sauce" recipe on another page - I just used Prego Spaghetti sauce, to speed things up!

~If you don't have grapeseed oil, I'm sure using only olive oil would be just fine, don't go out and buy grapeseed oil if you aren't going to use it for anything else!

~I didn't measure the mozzarella cheese, but I would say I used less than 2 cups.  I just sprinkled a little cheese on each cutlet, with the exception of mine and my son Drew's, because we are dairy-free.

~I omitted the Parmesan altogether, but if you use it, I'm sure it would be even more delicious!!

~You could also leave the cheese off altogether, or use Daiya "fake cheese" and it would be great!