Chicken Parmagiana

2 servings
220 g chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into thin cutlets
1 egg
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp bread crumbs
2/3 cup My Mother's Tomato Sauce (recipe below)
2 bocconcini/fresh mozzarella
1-1/2 tbsp canola oil
salt and ground pepper to taste

Spread the tomato sauce into the bottom of a baking dish.

Slice each breast horizontally into thin cutlets.  Flatten the cutlets between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and tenderize them using a meat pounder or rolling pin.

Beat the egg in one shallow dish and combine bread crumbs and grated Parmesan in the other.  Dip one chicken cutlet at a time in the egg, let the excess egg drip off before coating the cutlet with the bread crumbs mixture.  Turn the cutlets to coat both sides.

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat.  Saute the chicken cutlets 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to the baking dish, placing them side by side on top of the tomato sauce.  Top each cutlet with a thin slice of mozzarella.

Preheat the broiler.  Broil the cutlets about 10 cm from the heat source 6-8 minutes, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots.

Serve on warmed plates with pasta, veg or rice.



My Mother's Tomato Sauce

Makes 2-1/2 cups

1-/23 cups canned diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 salt celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Add the chopped vegetables.  Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring a few times.  The vegetables must soften without burning.  Add the diced tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste.

This sauce can be stored up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  Freeze larger quantities.