Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches

I used to make this exact recipe with ground beef.  In fact, my mom made it for me all the time growing up. It became known as my favorite dish and she still makes it for me when I go home to visit.  I decided to switch it up with chicken because my husband prefers chicken to beef.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf Italian Bread (try my recipe: Super Easy Italian Bread)
• 16 oz jar of sauce, or homemade pasta sauce
• 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2T panko bread crumbs
• 1T Italian style bread crumbs
• 1T grated Parmesan cheese
• 2T butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Preheat cast-iron skillet to medium.
Mix together bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Dip chicken breasts into butter then dredge through bread crumbs coating both sides evenly.  Add to preheated skillet.
Cook 5 minutes on each side until chicken is just done and browned on both sides.  It will cook more in the oven. Transfer to cutting board.
Cut top off bread loaf (see picture).  Remove bread from the inside with your hands. (See "tips" below, if you don't want to discard the bread)
Cut chicken into cubes.  Place bread loaf on sprayed baking sheet.  Add  chicken to the inside.  Top with 3/4 cup mozzarella.

 

Place baking sheet in oven.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbling.

Return top of loaf to bread, spread 1/4 cup mozzarella on top. Bake an additional 5 minutes to melt cheese.

While sandwiches are baking, heat sauce on stove-top.
When the sandwiches are done, remove from oven, let cool slightly.  Cut loaf into 2-inch slices, ladle sauce over slice and serve hot.

I admit there are a lot of steps, but do it once and it will be a piece of cake.

Tips:

• With the left over bread that you take out of the loaf you can do the following (add at least 1 more chicken breast and 1/2 cup mozzarella):
• Spread into a square baking dish.
• Add chicken to the glass baking dish (on top of the bread). Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup mozzarella.
• Place baking dish and baking sheet, side-by-side in oven.
• The "sandwiches" in the baking dish can easily be scooped out without cutting and served the same way with sauce.

• Another option is to save the bread for homemade croutons.

Super Easy Italian Bread

I love making bread.  I don't make it often because there are only two of us and it ends up getting wasted. This Italian bread is by far the easiest thing I've ever made.  There are only a few ingredients and you don't even have to get out the mixer!  I also love punching the bread down.  Getting my hands right in the dough is wonderful, but giving it a few good punches feels great!  OK, enough about my aggression, here's the deal...









Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2t active dry yeast
• 3 cups flour
• 1t salt
• 2t sugar
• 2T olive oil
• Sea Salt (optional)

Directions:

1.  In a small bowl, combine water and yeast, let sit five minutes.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar.  Stir the yeast and add to the flour mixture.
3.  Mix the yeast into the flour with a fork until all is wet.
4.  Using your hands, work dough into a ball. Start out with a little bit of flour on your hands.  If the dough is sticky, add flour to the dough one tablespoon at a time.

Before Rising

5.  Cover with a dish towel and allow to rise for at least 30 minutes.  I like to punch it down and knead it a little, work it back into a ball and let it rise again while the oven preheats.

After rising for 30 minutes

6.  Preheat oven 375 degrees.
7.  Rub one tablespoon of olive oil on a baking sheet.  Form dough into an oval on the baking sheet. Pour the remaining olive oil on the dough and rub all over with your hands.

You can also sprinkle a little sea salt on top if you like, but go easy.  The first time I made this, I used too much salt and it overpowered the flavor of the bread. Don't be afraid to get creative here.  I've been considering a little crushed red pepper, or perhaps just a little garlic powder.
Before the bread goes into the oven, make about four shallow cuts diagonally across the top.  If you're interested, here's a good read about why we score certain breads: Why and what kind of breads should be scored? You could even get fancy and try some of the designs shown in that post.

8.  Alright, quit screwing around and put the damn thing in the oven already!  30 minutes should do it.

And now you have Italian bread in just over an hour!  So easy, right?  I mean, that's easier than stopping at the store on your way home from work!

Happy Bread Making!

You can use this recipe to make these delicious Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches