Backstory: When I was younger, I used to go to a restaurant in Red Bank, NJ which served their version of Chicken & Eggplant Parmesan. That's right - chicken parmesan layed with eggplant parmesan. It was fantastic. The problem was that they removed this from their menu a few years back and since them, I had been dying to relive this meal at home. Below is the recipe I came up with in bringing this dish to life.
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Ingredients:
Chicken Cutlets - Thinly Sliced
1 Eggplant
1 Jar of your favorite Marinara Sauce
1 Package of Shredded Mozzarella
~2 cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs (This will vary)
~2 Large Egg (This will also vary slightly)
Vegetable Oil (For Cooking)
Parmesan Cheese to Taste (mix with Breadcrumbs to add flavor)
Sea Salt to Taste
Black Pepper to Taste
1. Start by slicing your Eggplant. I found a lot of success with these being around 1/4 inch or thinner.
2. Prep the egg-wash. I used 2 eggs, added salt and pepper, and whisked it together.
3. Prep the breadcrumbs. Pour about 2 cups of breadcrumbs onto a large plate. If desired, mix some parmesan cheese into the breadcrumbs at this point.
4. Dip your eggplant slices into the egg-wash ensuring that it is fully coated. Then transfer to your breadcrumb plate and flip it back and forth until covered.
5. Take your chicken cutlets and repeat step 4 to egg-wash and breadcrumb the pieces.
6. In a large frying pan, pour enough oil to fill the bottom of the pan and heat up at around medium-high heat.
7. Place the eggplant into the pan using as much surface areas as you.
8. Cook each side until golden brown - mine cooked for about 90 seconds on each side. Try to only flip once.
9. Remove from pan and place onto a plate to cool. I always place 2-3 paper towels on plate ahead of time to absorb excess oil.
10. You will now proceed with cooking you chicken following the same rules as steps 7-9 with the eggplant. Chicken was about 2 minutes on each side.
Also, try your best to remove the burnt crumbs from the bottom of the pan. You'll notice that I didn't do the best job with this which explains the picture above.
11. Remove chicken and transfer to another cooling plate.
12. Transfer your chicken cutlets to your oven safe baking dish (also not a bad time to preheat your oven to around 400 degrees).
13. Add a spoonful of your favorite marinara sauce to the top of each piece of chicken.
14. Cover each piece of chicken with a piece of eggplant (you can cut the eggplant to accommodate for smaller chicken pieces.
15. Add another spoonful of sauce and cover each piece generously with mozzarella cheese!
16. Allow about 15 minutes to bake (give or take mainly based on how long it takes for the cheese to melt).
17. Serve!
18. Enjoy!
I hope you all enjoyed this recipe as much as I did making it. As always, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!
- Corey
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