This chicken Parmesan pasta is the perfect, simple dish to lure kids into the kitchen — what kid doesn't like chicken tenders and spaghetti? This dish is loaded with mini cooking lessons, too. With one simple recipe, kids learn how to boil pasta, mince garlic, grate cheese, make tomato sauce, and pound, bread, and sauté cutlets. Bonus: This recipe makes twice the sauce needed, so freeze half for another meal.
Ingredients
- extra-virgin olive oil: 2 Tbsp
- medium garlic cloves, peeled and: 2 piece (crushed)
- tomatoes: 1 can (28 ounce can, crushed)
- basil: 0.5 tsp (dried)
- oregano: 0.25 tsp (dried)
- sugar: 0.25 tsp
- salt and freshly ground black pepper: (to taste)
- ounces spaghetti or linguine: 8 piece
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each), halved crosswise: 2 piece
- egg: 1 piece
- dry bread crumbs: 0.5 cup
- black pepper: (to taste, freshly ground)
- extra-virgin olive oil: 0.25 cup
- part-skim mozzarella cheese: 0.5 cup (grated)
- Parmesan cheese, plus more: 0.25 cup (for serving, grated)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Make tomato sauce: Heat oil and garlic in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until garlic starts to sizzle. Stir in tomatoes, basil, oregano, and sugar; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer; cook until sauce slightly thickens and flavors meld, 10 to 12 minutes. Cover and keep warm. (Remember, this makes twice the amount of sauce needed, so put aside half for another meal.)
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Cook pasta: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
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Make chicken cutlets: Lay chicken pieces between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Use a mallet or heavy pan to pound chicken to about 1/4-inch thickness.
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Beat egg in a shallow dish until well blended. Season bread crumbs with black pepper in another shallow dish.
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Preheat the oven broiler to high. Place a rack 4 to 5 inches from the heat source.
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Working with one cutlet at a time, dip chicken in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs. Lay breaded cutlets on a wire rack set over a cookie sheet (this step helps breading stay put).
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Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers.
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Fry breaded cutlets in hot oil until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes total. Wash and dry the wire rack and return to the cookie sheet. Place fried cutlets on the clean wire rack.
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Top each cutlet with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Broil until cheese melts and is spotty brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
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Portion pasta onto 4 plates and top each with a chicken cutlet. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons tomato sauce over each cutlet, then sauce pasta as desired. Serve with extra Parmesan at the table.
