Burrata Chicken Parmesan

A tavola non si invecchia (You don’t age while seated for a meal)

What a fun dinner to put together, but messy as the breading procedure usually goes and since I was craving something Italian this recipes hits all of the fill the craving notes. Gooey cheeses, saucy sauce and a light pasta dish. Life is always a bit easier when one makes a big batch of sauce and freezes portions of 2-4 or 8 for week night dinners and today the added bonus of fresh oregano, basil from the window boxes and several cloves of roasted garlic for the sauce. Pasta was a simple roasted lemon, tomato and asparagus “sauce” tossed with a little fresh basil, a touch of red sauce, drizzled with a little olive oil and finally freshly grated cheese grated cheese…the first picture is the chicken prepped and ready to go into the oven to melt the cheese and the second shows what the stuffing process is…

For the Chicken Parmesan:
3 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
EVOO to sauté the chicken in
sun-dried tomato paste, enough for a thin spread on the inside of the chicken (I found sundries tomato paste Amore Brand)
chopped fresh basil
freshly grated parmesan
2 balls of burrata cheese (I used Trader Joe’s) or sub fresh mozzarella, burrata doesn’t slice like mozzarella, but it was easy enough to handle
Tomato Sauce, about 1 1/2-2 cups
For breading:
salt and pepper
3 whisked eggs
about 1/4 cup seasoned flour
about 2 1/2 cups mixed lightly seasoned Italian fresh bread crumbs and panko crumbs, *optional (sprinkle in parmesan cheese and a bit of grated lemon zest)

Prepare your breading trays, flour, eggs, and crumbs…
Butterfly the boneless chicken breasts (or have your butcher do it for you)…open the chicken breast and season with salt, pepper and granulated garlic, spread a thin coating of sun-dried tomato paste over the cutlet and add a slice of burrata cheese, a sprinkle of fresh chopped basil, close the cutlet. I didn’t need to seal the cutlet with a small skewers, but if you want to go right ahead. Continue with breading process, seasoned flour, seasoned whisked eggs, and finally into a mix of fine bread crumbs and crispy panko crumbs.
*I had peppered parmesan bread left over and turned them into crumbs adding in a bit more parmesan cheese.

Sauté the stuffed chicken in about 2 tablespoons EVOO and until lightly browned on both sides, add sauce to the pan and distribute evenly under chicken, place another piece of burrata or mozzarella cheese over chicken, drizzle a little sauce over, scatter some freshly chopped basil and a good dose of grated parmesan, finish in oven for 5 or so minutes or until the cheese melts to gooeyness.

In my kitchen handy-dandy breading trays…