Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed 
• hot red pepper flakes, to taste 
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 5, but they were huge!) 
• 2 cups marinara sauce 
• 1/4 cup chopped basil 
• 8 oz mozzarella, shredded 
• 4 oz Parmesan, grated 
• 1 (5-oz) package garlic croutons

Not counting pizza and spaghetti, chicken Parmesan may be the most popular Italian-American restaurant entree out there. For many years I've been trying to perfect a home version that didn’t require the breading and frying, but still offered that irresistible combination of tender chicken, crunchy/cheesy coating, and flavorful sauce. These attempts were met with soggy, flaccid results. The problem with not frying the breaded breast is the baked-on coating just doesn’t get crisp enough to stand up to the sauce and cheese.

Well, on Tuesday, February 19th, at 4:45 PM, it hit me like a giant meatball dropped from the leaning tower of Pisa (worst simile ever?). I was watching TV and saw some croutons being sprinkled on a salad. I suddenly had the answer to my crispy/cheesy coating dilemma. The solution to the breading problem was…no breading! I would make the chicken Parmesan like a casserole; chicken and sauce, topped with a crispy, crunchy, layer of cheese and croutons.