That's amore...

Okay, odd title for a post, but in truth, I LOVE this recipe so much I could write a song in Italian about it.  I am so excited to share it with you here.

The original recipe is perfect as it is and you can find that here.  I was nervous at the beginning when I saw this recipe because I saw WW and immediately assumed some of those calorie-cutting corners were going to mean a whole lot of bad stuff.  Wrong.  This is actually a pretty clean recipe and it stands really well on its own two feet just as written.

However, I can't make any recipe without adding my own twists, so though I use the LaaLoosh recipe as a base, the end result is slightly different.  Feel free to do the same (or do this with an eggplant for my veggiesaurus readers!) or to stick to the original recipe.  Either way, you really can't go wrong.

So, here it is:

{Chicken Parmigiana a la LaaLoosh...sorta}

Ingredients

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp of your favorite Italian seasoning for the breading and 2-3 additional Tbsps for the sauce
1 lb. of uncooked, boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thinly pounded)
1/2 tsp of kosher salt (or to taste)
1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of dried Italian bread crumbs
2-15 oz cans of tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with your favorite cooking spray (I've seen some recipes on Pinterest for making your own!)

- Place the egg whites in a small, shallow bowl.  In another shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs and Italian seasoning.  Yes, I realize that you're adding Italian seasoning to bread crumbs that already have Italian seasoning.  Trust me.  It makes the dish explode with flavor and I've never been disappointed by my decision to do this.

- Place the chicken in egg whites and coat each breast evenly.  Then, put the chicken in the bread crumb mix and evenly coat.  You won't use anywhere near all of the bread crumbs called for in the recipe.  Just discard the extra when you're through.

Try to ignore that these pictures are out of order.

- Meanwhile, spritz a large skillet with cooking oil (skip this step if you'd like) and add the extra virgin olive oil.  Heat over medium-high heat.

EVOO in a hot skillet?  Best smell EVER.

- When heated, put the chicken in the skillet and cook until lightly browned and no longer pink in the center.  The original recipe says that it will take about 4 minutes per side.  It has always taken my chicken longer to cook.  I don't know if it is the pan, or that I'm turning my chicken too often.  Or, if I just don't pound the chicken thinly enough.  Either way, just cook your chicken until it isn't pink.

However, if your chicken looks like the top one on the right, you may have overdone it a little.  It will still taste great.

- While your chicken is cooking, its time to add a little NMTOB flair to this dish.  You'll notice I have DOUBLED the amount of tomato sauce from the original recipe.  That's because I love a nice, saucy chicken parm, but also because I like to spoon a little of the sauce over the pasta we always serve with this.  If you think you'd like less sauce, just do one can.  But still, don't skip this step (and just adjust the seasonings accordingly.)

- Pour both cans of tomato sauce into a bowl.  Add 2-3 tbsps of Italian seasoning and 1/2 tsp of kosher salt (again, you can season all of this to taste, so just adjust according to how you like it.)  Mix that stuff around.  Pour approximately 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture into the bottom of your prepared square baking dish.  (Usually I do a little bit more than 1/2 cup...just eyeball it.)

I could eat it with a spoon.

- Place cooked chicken breasts on top of the sauce and distribute some of the remaining sauce over the chicken.  (You don't have to go nuts here.  You won't use all of what you have left in the bowl.  I just usually make sure each chicken breast is covered with a healthy dose of tomato sauce.)

Chicken before top sauce has been added.

- Cover with mozzarella, followed by a nice sprinkle of the Parmesan.  (If I'm being honest, I do more like 3/4 cup of mozzarella over everything and then do a pinch of shredded Parmesan sprinkled over each chicken  breast.)

Looking great and ready for the oven.

- Bake until chicken is cooked throughly and then cheese begins to bubble a bit (approximately 25 minutes.)

Yeah, buddy.

We always serve this dish with a side of whole wheat penne and our favorite pesto sauce.  Pesto sauce combined with marinara is one of my faves, so like I said, I always spoon some of the extra sauce over my pasta.  It also tastes great with a nice green vegetable on the side (we did steamed broccoli this time, it's also great with peas, or a green salad.)

You will not believe the flavor and you will fight your spouse for the leftovers.  (Okay, maybe that's just me.)  It makes the best next-day meal.  I also think this would be a great meal to serve to company to wow them with your cooking acumen.  (Though, it truly couldn't be a simpler recipe!)

The LaaLoosh recipe says this is a 5 WW Point recipe per serving (I think that's old Points though) and I've calculated it at just over 300 calories per serving (with my changes).  Not bad for how yummy it tastes and such low calories means you can have extra pasta...or seconds...

So, let me know how it goes.
Enjoy! Ciao!

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