When I think about comfort food, I usually think… heavy, fattening, deep fried, and guilty guilty guilty!!! 

Luckily, this recipe for chicken parmigiana is not only delicious comfort food but leaves you guilt-free. It’s a light, fresh and easy version of the classic dish, so you won’t feel bad going back for seconds!

Typically, the chicken in chicken parmigiana is fried, but I go another route and bake my chicken. It’s so much healthier and it comes out just as crispy and moist as the traditional one.

I serve it on a small bed of spaghetti rigati and arugula – it’s perfect because it takes half the time, and even better, half the mess.

Hope you enjoy!

Guilt-Free Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients

4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 cup bread crumbs, seasoned
Salt & pepper
1 Egg
1/4 cup low fat or skim milk
4 slices of mozzarella

Sauce Ingredients

1 can tomato puree
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 whole garlic cloves
3-4 fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt & pepper
Garlic salt
A pat of butter (optional)

Directions

Beat the egg and the milk together in a deep dish or even a plastic Ziploc bag.  Drop in the chicken and cover with the egg wash mixture.  In a separate sheet pan, cover the surface with bread crumbs and coat both sides of the chicken evenly. Then place breaded chicken into a Pyrex dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.

Place in the oven on 425 uncovered for 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken breast.

In a sauce pan. combine all the sauce ingredients except the cream and butter and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Then remove the garlic clove and basil leaves, and finish by adding the heavy cream and pat of butter.

Remove chicken from the oven and spoon 2 or 3 tablespoons of sauce in the center of the chicken (which should be perfectly golden brown and crispy). Top with a slice of mozzarella cheese.  Place under the broiler for a minute or two until it’s all nice and melted – I like mine a little toasty – and serve.

And there you go – chicken parmigiana in a flash! This dish has nothing fried, and nothing heavy. It’s absolutely light and tasty, and it’s easy enough to make any night of the week. Serve the chicken over some spaghetti and some fresh arugula for a yummy (guilt-free) meal!