Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Parmesan crusted chicken served with ripe tomatoes and fresh basil. A classic summer recipe that takes a full flavour advantage of the bounty of fresh basil. It's a toolkit recipe.

I first tried this recipe during my first few months of becoming an aspiring home chef, nine years ago. I bought Donna Hay's New Food Fast and was determined to become a fantastic cook- in less then 40 years. Given where I was starting from, I thought it would take about that long.


There are a lot of recipes out there for Parmesan crusted chicken, and they are all for the same thing. Delicious, juicy, Parmesan crusted chicken. Try this recipe. Don't serve it with rice- take my word, chicken and rice is WAY overdone. Serve it with grilled vegetables, corn on the cob, green beans or asparagus. And, next time I try it I'm going to add some black olives to the dish. Mmmmm.


Parmesan Crusted Chicken (serves 2)
(adapted from New Food Fast by Donna Hay)

Ingredients
2 chicken breast fillets
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 ripes tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
balsamic vinegar
salt

Directions
Cut each chicken breast into 2 flat pieces. Dip each piece in the egg whites and then press the chick into a bowl with the grated Parmesan and black pepper.

Heat a skillet and add oil over a medium high heat. Add the chicken. Cook about 3 minutes on each or until golden and cooked through.

Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes and chop the fresh basil. Add into a bowl with salt and vinegar and set aside.

Serve the chicken topped with the tomatoes and basil. Grate extra Parmesan on top.
Optional: add a handful of black olives. Enjoy!