Category Archives: Pasta

I needed a quick and hearty dinner. My husband and I were having a very busy couple of days where we would leave very early in the morning and return very late at night. Most days, we came home exhausted and I was not very inclined to cook. Fortunately, one of the days, we came home relatively early and after a short nap, I was ready to make a good dinner. Luckily, I had all the ingredients on hand and since this makes at least 8 portions for us, it was a perfect dish for the remaining week. This is my version of a Chicken Parmesan Bake.

Chicken Parmesan Bake

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts or 4-5 chicken thighs (I used thighs)

Panko Bread Crumbs (or Regular Bread Crumbs)

Milk (or buttermilk)

Flour

Salt/pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 cups of uncooked small pasta shells (any small pasta will do)

2-3 cups of pasta sauce

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F
2. Bring a pot of water to boil and cooking pasta as per instructions
3. Place chicken breasts or thighs between two layers of plastic wrap and pound until chicken is flattened evenly
4. Season bread crumbs with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne and onion powder (if you are using Italian bread crumbs just season with cayenne)
5. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off any excess
6. Dip floured chicken into milk and then into bread crumbs
7. Place chicken on a greased baking pan
8. Spray the top of the chicken heavily with cooking spray
9. Bake until golden brown on both sides (don’t worry about cooking it through)
10. Reduce heat of oven to 375 F
11. When pasta has finished cooking, drain and combine with some of the pasta sauce
12. Place a thin layer of pasta sauce onto baking pan and add about half of the pasta
13. Place a layer of chicken on top of the pasta.
14. Add remaining pasta to pan and cover with remaining pasta sauce.
15. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese on top.
16. Bake Chicken Parmesan for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is all melted and starts to brown.