Chicken Parmigiana

4-6 chicken breasts OR 6-8 chicken tenders

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

1 Tblsp. steak seasoning OR fill a Tablespoon with equal amounts of paprika, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes or lemon pepper.  (I used lemon pepper because I didn't have red pepper flakes on hand).

2 Tblsp. butter

3-4 cloves minced garlic (I always use 1/4 tsp. per garlic clove because it's easier & faster)

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp. sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

salt & pepper to taste

6-8 basil leaves, chiffonaded

fresh fat leaf parsley (I didn't use this or the basil because I didn't have either of these either)

Whisk the flour, parmesan cheese, salt & steak seasoning together in a medium-sized bowl.  Place chicken breasts in between two pieces of wax paper & whack them flat.  Coat both sides of chicken evenly with breading mix; set aside.  Melt the butter in a skillet & then add the garlic.  Stir constantly so that the garlic doesn't get too brown.  Open up the tomatoes, but don't add them quite yet.  It's so much easier to open the can now so that you can just pour it all in instead of worrying about burning your garlic while you're fiddling with the can.  Make sense?  Anyway, back to the recipe.  Once your garlic is golden, add the tomatoes & sugar.  Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be sure to be careful while you're stirring.  When I made this the mixture was splashing tomato all over the stove!  Once the sauce has simmered, stir in the cream & salt & pepper to taste.  Cover & simmer for an additional 3 minutes, then lower the heat to keep warm until you're ready for it.  While the sauce is simmering, start your noodles to boil.  I used spaghetti but you can always use whatever noodles you have on hand.  Bring the water to a boil, then add 1 tsp. of salt for flavor, and 1 Tblsp. olive oil to prevent your noodles from sticking.  Once you've gotten your noodles into the pot, start cooking the chicken by melting 2 Tblsp. butter and 2 Tblsp. olive oil in another large skillet (I used my electric one) over medium-high heat until it's nice, hot, melted & brown.  Add your chicken breasts & cook on each side for 4-5 minutes.  Once the chicken is ready, put onto plates with noodles, top with marinara sauce & then top everything generously with mozzarella cheese right away so it can melt & get all gooey & yummy.

I found this recipe on Kevin & Amanda.  I've searched endlessly for a good chicken parmigiana recipe ever since I've been married.  Everything I tried with just regular spaghetti sauce didn't taste nearly as good as this did!  I've always been a huge fan of The Olive Garden's Tour of Italy, but this chicken parmigiana was SO MUCH BETTER than the one included in this dish.  Ahhhh; I love love LOVE Italian food!!!  :D