cheat's chicken parmigiana

Second to Asian cuisine, I love Italian food especially pasta! Great food, but I am no expert in making them. I remember eating chicken parmigiana earlier in the year at La Porchetta where it was around $20 for the whole meal. Supposedly pretty expensive as you can buy a filling meal somewhere else for half the price. But had a satisfying lunch that day.

During the holidays, mum usually prepares lunch of some sort where we just have to heat it up in the microwave. I did tell her several times not to make lunch for me since I was going to make it myself. On the day she fried chicken schnitzels, I didn't just want to eat schnitzels with tomato sauce so I decide to add something to it for a better meal :) Same thing when mum pan fried some dumplings, I just turned them into dumpling ramen (or soba in my case).

The chicken parmigiana is not very traditional or even close to authenic or restaurant quality by it does have the three main coponents of the crumbed chicken schnitzel, tomato sauce and melted cheese on top. But let's just call this a cheap knock-off from the original :D

Oh and the cheat's part, I used store-bought chicken schnitzels instead. Of course, you can crumb the chicken fillets yourself too :)

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cheat's chicken parmigianaan original recipe by me
ingredients:makes 2 sides or 1 main course

• 2 small chicken schnitzels
  (you can get them from the local butcher or supermarket)
• oil for frying
• 100 g tinned tomatoes
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  (adding more sugar reduces the acidity of the tomatoes)
• pinch of dried Italian herbs
• grated pizza cheese
• grated parmesan cheese, optional

oven:
200 degrees Celcius

method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry chicken schnitzels until crunchy and golden. Drain excess oil on kitchen paper. Transfer warm chicken schnitzels to a baking tray lined with foil and baking paper.

2. Heat a non stick frying pan and add the tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar and dried Italian herbs. Cook over medium heat until sauce thickens. Transfer sauce to a bowl.

3. Spread the thick tomato sauce on top of the schnitzel ensuring that each schnitzel is covered with the sauce.

3. Top with some grated pizza cheese and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 7 - 10 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve hot!