Who doesn’t love a chicken parma? Turn the classic pub-food dish into a hero-status dinner with my ultimate recipe.
2 chicken breasts
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs, lightly whisked
½ cup plain flour (all-purpose flour)
vegetable oil for shallow frying
1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella
½ cup coarsely grated gruyere cheese
finely chopped parsley
sea salt
Tomato miso sauce:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 x 400g (14 oz) tin whole peeled tomatoes
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 star anise
Butterfly each chicken breast by cutting through each piece lengthways but don’t cut all the way through. Place a sheet of baking paper over the top of the chicken and use a rolling pin or wine bottle to lightly pound the chicken to an even thickness (I like them about 1.5 cm thick).
Season each side of the chicken with a generous amount of salt. Rest for 20 minutes or up to an hour to allow the salt to penetrate.
In the meantime, make the tomato miso sauce. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for a minute. Then add the tinned tomatoes, miso paste, soy sauce and star anise. Cook, stirring and breaking up the tomatoes every so often, for 20 minutes.
To make the crumbing for the chicken, combine the panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and garlic powder in a large tray.
Place the eggs in a separate large plate or tray. And also place the flour in a separate large plate or tray.
Use paper towel to pat the chicken pieces dry. Then dip each fillet into the flour. Tap off the excess. Then dip into the egg. And finally place into the breadcrumb mixture. Press the breadcrumbs onto the fillets.
Combine the mozzarella and the gruyere cheeses.
Preheat the oven grill to high.
Fill a large frying pan with about a 1cm depth of oil. Place over high heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken in batches, being sure to keep turning the fillets as they cook so that they colour evenly. Drain on paper towel.
Place the crumbed chicken on heat proof plates or on oven trays. Spread with a generous amount of tomato miso sauce. Top with the cheese. Place under the hot grill until the cheese has melted and turned slightly golden. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
