Baked Chicken Katsu Parma


Date Published: August 15th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 15th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

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This past week we’ve been using more eggplant in our cooking, a vegetable that we previously never really touched. We’ve actually made some pretty tasty dishes with eggplant including sweet chilli eggplant and a few more dishes that I’ll be posting soon. I found a popular recipe for an eggplant parmesan from Jamie Oliver and decided to give it a go. Toby LOVES a good parma, so you can imagine his disappointment when he thought an eggplant parmesan was a chicken parma with eggplant on top, rather than an eggplant-style lasagne. In the end our eggplant parmesan turned out well, but I felt bad that Toby never got the parma he was so excited for so we put parma on this week’s menu. We decided to use the baked chicken katsu recipe to make it a healthier (and crunchier) alternative and topped it off with our own marinara sauce. It was SOOOOO good. Toby said it was one of the best parmas he’s ever had, especially with the homemade marinara.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 2 Tbsps Italian seasoning (or dried oregano)
  • 4 chicken breasts, butterflied
  • salt & ground black pepper
  • 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups marinara sauce
  • A few slices of mozzarella cheese per parma
  • Basil leaves (for garnish)

Directions:

Cooled toasted panko with parmesan and Italian seasoning

On a pan on medium heat, toast the panko with the olive oil. Stir to combine and toast until golden brown. Then put your panko in a large bowl and set aside to cool. Once cooled mix in parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.

Preheat oven to 200˚C.

  • Two chicken breasts
  • Cut off the small side piece of meat and reserve it for later use
  • Starting at the thicker side, slice the breast in half, keeping your knife parallel with the chopping board but don’t cut all the way through
  • Stop cutting when you get near the end of the breast. Open it up and done!
  • Ta-da! Two butterflied chicken breasts

Rinse your chicken and pat dry. Butterfly the chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Follow the photos above to butterfly the breasts or click here for a more descriptive tutorial.

In two large bowls or plates, place flour in one and beaten eggs in the other.

Now bread your chicken in this order:

  1. Dunk the chicken breast in the flour bowl to cover both sides. Shake off any excess flour.
  2. Next coat it in the beaten eggs.
  3. Finally coat it in the toasted panko parmesan mixture, pressing the crumbs in slightly to help them stick.

Place the katsu onto a wire rack over an oven tray. Bake for about 20-25 minutes on the middle rack until the chicken is no longer pink inside. If you have an oven thermometer, your chicken should be about 74˚C.

When the chicken is cooked, put a few spoonfuls of marinara sauce over each katsu then top with mozzarella cheese. Put it back on the oven and broil on HIGH until the cheese is bubbly and melted (~1 minute).

Top each parma with a few slices of fresh basil and serve immediately. Done!

Summarized Recipe:

Baked Chicken Katsu Parma

Date Published: August 15th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 15th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: mains
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 2 Tbsps Italian seasoning (or dried oregano)
  • 4 chicken breasts, butterflied
  • salt & ground black pepper
  • 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups marinara sauce
  • A few slices of mozzarella cheese per parma
  • Basil leaves (for garnish)

Directions:

  1. On a pan on medium heat, toast the panko with the olive oil. Stir to combine and toast until golden brown. Then put your panko in a large bowl and set aside to cool. Once cooled mix in parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.
  2. Preheat oven to 200˚C.
  3. Rinse your chicken and pat dry. Butterfly the chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper on both sides (click here for tutorial).
  4. In two large bowls or plates, place flour in one and beaten eggs in the other.
  5. Now bread your chicken in this order:
    1. Dunk the chicken breast in the flour bowl to cover both sides. Shake off any excess flour.
    2. Next coat it in the beaten eggs.
    3. Finally coat it in the toasted panko parmesan mixture, pressing the crumbs in slightly to help them stick.
  6. Place the katsu onto a wire rack over an oven tray. Bake for about 20-25 minutes on the middle rack until the chicken is no longer pink inside. If you have an oven thermometer, your chicken should be about 74˚C.
  7. When the chicken is cooked, put a few spoonfuls of marinara sauce over each katsu then top with mozzarella cheese. Put it back on the oven and broil on HIGH until the cheese is bubbly and melted (~1 minute).
  8. Top each parma with a few slices of fresh basil and serve immediately. Done!

AbbyLeave a comment

So Good Classic Marinara Sauce


Date Published: August 15th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 15th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, easy
Serves: 3-4 cups | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

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This classic thick and rich red sauce is SO good and easy to make. Most of the work is done in a food processor and then just sauté and simmer it in some onions, garlic and white wine. Easy, huh? It’s a great go-to recipe for pasta, parma, or even a dip for some gooey mozzarella sticks mmmmmm. We had this with a baked chicken katsu parma for lunch today which was the perfect place to use this sauce! I’ll be putting up that recipe shortly as well. 🙂

Cute story: Toby only recently learned that marinara sauce and “red sauce” were the same thing. He always thought marinara sauce was a specific sauce you cook seafood marinara in, which is a popular dish in Australia (seafood pasta cooked in marinara sauce). He was a little confused when I told him we didn’t need any seafood to make this sauce. I would have to give him credit on his reasoning though: “marine” is similar to “marinara” which is why he thought the two were related. I had to look up marinara sauce to double check I was right because his reasoning was so logical.

If you make this sauce, let me know in the comments what you think! Follow me on insta (@polyphagicabby) or Facebook to get the latest recipes and updates!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • 2 cans (800g) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (140g) tomato paste
  • 4 Tbsps fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsps olive oil
  • 1/3 cup finely diced onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup white wine

Directions:

In a food processor, add the: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the finely chopped onions and garlic in 2 Tbsps of olive oil until soft and turning translucent. Add the blended tomato sauce and white wine to the skillet and simmer for 30 minutes or until desired consistency (simmer longer for a thicker sauce to be used as a dip or parma). Taste and adjust according to taste. Done!

Summarized Recipe:

So Good Classic Marinara Sauce

Date Published: August 15th, 2020 | Last Updated: August 15th, 2020
Author: Abby |Category: sauces, easy
Serves: 3-4 cups | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans (800g) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (140g) tomato paste
  • 4 Tbsps fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsps olive oil
  • 1/3 cup finely diced onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup white wine

Directions:

  1. In a food processor, add the: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
  2. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the finely chopped onions and garlic in 2 Tbsps of olive oil until soft and turning translucent. Add the blended tomato sauce and white wine to the skillet and simmer for 30 minutes or until desired consistency (simmer longer for a thicker sauce to be used as a dip or parma). Taste and adjust according to taste. Done!

AbbyLeave a comment