Chicken in parmesan and herb breadcrumbs

Here’s a quick post that’s a little bit more seasonal than the last one! Chicken breasts in some Italian influenced breadcrumbs.

I used to love the chicken in breadcrumbs you get in a packet from a well known frozen food company. Especially the spicy mexican ones. I was looking for inspiration for tea the other day and thought of them but figured I could try making them myself. A quick browse on the BBC Good Food site brought up some recipes, mostly for chicken kievs, that gave me a rough idea of the technique I needed and from there I decided to go down a more Italian route by adding parmesan and some herbs into the mix.

For a quick dish which sprang from a vague idea I have to say I was really pleased with how this turned out. The chicken was brilliant. Nice and juicy in its breadcrumb coat which had a fantastic balance between the flavour of the parmesan and the fragrant herbs. It all worked amazingly well. This is definitely getting made again. As it was just a quick tea we had it with chips and frozen carrots but it would be great with a warm salad or some spinach and some homemade tomato relish.

Serves 2

2 chicken breasts
2 slices of white bread or the heels from a loaf
A sprig of rosemary
Some fresh parsley
Oregano
Grated parmesan
Plain flour
3 eggs, beaten

Pre-heat the oven to 200C
Tear the bread into small chunks and place in a food processor with the rosemary leaves, a little parsley and a teaspoon of oregano.
Add a handful of grated parmesan, some salt and pepper then blitz it all up into breadcrumbs.
Heat a large amount of oil in a frying pan.
Season the flour and dip each chicken breast first in the flour, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs.
Ensure the chicken breasts are covered then dip them in each item a second time before adding to the pan.
Fry the chicken for two or three minutes on each side so it’s golden brown.
Transfer onto a roasting tray, drizzle with a little oil then place in the oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.