How to Make Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Boneless chicken recipes have a tendency to be on the dry side. Not so with this healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan. My Chicken Parmigiana is a stuffed chicken breast recipe made with ricotta, mozzarella and spinach, pan seared in extra virgin olive oil, then baked to perfection in a thick rich marinara. Served over fettuccine, with a garden salad and garlic bread, it is the perfect meal. File this one under your quick and easy baked chicken recipes.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella
• 1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
• 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for pan searing)
• 4 cups marinara
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmigiana cheese
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 1 pound fettuccine, uncooked

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Heat the marinara in a sauce pan. Cover and keep warm.

3. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, mozzarella and spinach. Set aside. Start the water for the pasta, you will cook it while the chicken is in the oven.

4. Using a sharp paring knife, cut a deep pocket into the long side of each chicken breast. Stuff each breast with as much of the cheese mixture as they will hold. Season each breast lightly with salt and pepper.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in an oven proof non-stick saute pan. (If your pan has a plastic handle wrap it in a few layers of foil.) Sear the stuffed chicken breasts for two minutes on each side. Some of the cheese may spill out, so be careful. Using a spatula instead of tongs will help.

6. Move the chicken breasts to a holding plate. Add 1 cup of marinara to the bottom of the saute pan. Return chicken breasts to the pan. Ladle a small amount of marinara over each piece, and top with one slice of provolone and grated Parmigiana cheese. Tent the pan with foil. Make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

7. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake for another 10 minutes, until cheese is browned. Cook the fettuccine during the last 10 minutes of baking.

8. Remove the chicken parmigiana from the oven. Serve hot over cooked fettuccine with garlic bread and my Better Than Olive Garden Salad (link below).

Resources

• Better Than Olive Garden Salad
• JulieMcMurchie.com

[Sondrac]

on 4/15/2009 My favorite dish, and it sounds so easy to make 5* and rec

[bethandlee]

on 3/31/2009 Can I just say YUM?! 5*

[our5kids]

on 3/31/2009 Yum as you can tell from my articles Chicken is the bomb I make it at least once a week, thank you for the new recipe 5*.

[saggio]

on 3/27/2009 This sounds delicious, great recipe, thanks for sharing, 5* and rec!

[FrazzledNanny]

on 3/24/2009 WOW! I love this Baked Chicken Parmigiana recipe. I put it in my favorites and 5*