Friday, November 09, 2007

Chicken Parmesan with Creamy Orzo

Chicken Parmesan
Pounded Chicken breast, for even cooking
1 cup italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup egg beaters
1/2 cup flour
vegetable oil to cover bottom of saute pan (size of pan varies this)

1 cup tomato sauce (recipe to follow)
shredded mozzarella
grated parmesan

After chicken is pounded thin, dredge in flour, then dip in egg beaters, then in bread crumbs. Heat oil. And also turn on broiler in oven. I unsafely drop a little water in the pan to see if it is ready for the chicken. If the oil spatters and burns me, we're good to go. Drop chicken into pan, turning once after the first side is brown. If the chicken is thin enough, 3-4 minutes on each side should be sufficient. After cooked, place in oven safe pan (I use a pie dish), top with a spoonful of tomato sauce, and then top with the desired amount of cheese. Place under broiler to melt the cheese.

Creamy Orzo

1 cup uncooked orzo
1 T butter
3 minced garlic cloves
3 cups chicken broth (I make my own)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 tree of broccoli, chopped
1 T cream cheese (I use 1/3 the fat cream cheese)
Melt butter in a sauce pan, and cook garlic about halfway. Then add the orzo to coat with butter. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add chopped brocolli. Boil until orzo is done. Sometimes a need for straining is necessary, sometimes it isn't. If you strain, leave a little liquid to keep creamy once you add the parmesan. Mix in parmesan, then drop in cream cheese, mixing until it melts.


Last Minute Tomato Sauce
1 small onion, chopped small
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t oregano
2 t fresh basil
salt
crushed red pepper
1/2 cup red wine
1 large can of crushed tomatos
1 bay leaf

I always make my own tomato sauce. I keep cans of Tomato Sauce, Crushed Tomato, Chopped Tomato, and Whole Tomatoes in my pantry at all times. I really liked the CRUSHED for this sauce, and will probably keep more crushed tomato than just tomato sauce in the future.

The order that I cooked this in:
Tomato Sauce
Cooked the orzo to a boil
Started chicken on the stove
Put chicken in the oven
Added cheeses to the orzo

2 comments:

Jaime said...

the creamy orzo sounds yummy!

Em said...

That sounds good- and I like that you included the order in which you did the different parts of the recipe. That's one of the things I find tricky with new recipes!