My mother was a great cook. I have great memories of many of her meals. As I remember now, she had a relatively small repertoire of recipes. We were never served broccoli, cauliflower or eggplant. Corn on the cob and green beans from a can are two of the vegetables I remember. She also had a pretty strict routine for her cooking. Wednesday was spaghetti and meatballs Thursday was veal, Friday was fried chicken (oh so good), Sunday was steak, get how it goes here? Even her holiday menus were routine. As a young child, I never got tired of it, and always looked forward to her meals.
For the first few years, after I was married, I never cooked. My husband was not always home for dinner, and I wasn’t going to just cook for myself. It wasn’t until I had children, that I really needed to start cooking. I began cooking basically the same way my mom did, but my repertoire grew instinctually. I found that I really enjoyed it and hungrily (no pun intended) looked up recipes.
During this lockdown, I find that I am actually cooking more simply. Of course my son’s appetites are simple, and they don’t need anything fancy. When I do actually prepare a more complicated meal, I end up giving it away. I am excited to share this recipe with you, because it was finally one my family loved and it is so easy to prepare.
This is a really simple way to make chicken Parmesan, because everything is store bought and comes together effortlessly. The chicken soaks up the flavor of the marinara sauce beautifully. The crushed red pepper flakes give it just the right amount of heat. The basil and the garlic adds a nice savory touch and the Parmesan and mozzarella are the perfect topping for this delectable dish.
This recipe is courtesy of Allrecipes and will serve 6 people who will definitely be asking for seconds!
Ingredients for Parmesan Chicken Bake:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 cups prepared marinara sauce
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 (5 ounce) package garlic croutons
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Coat the bottom of a 9×13 inch casserole dish with olive oil, and sprinkle with garlic and hot red pepper flakes.
Arrange the chicken breasts in bottom of the dish.
Pour marinara sauce over chicken and sprinkle with basil.
Top with half the mozzarella cheese, followed by half the Parmesan cheese.
Sprinkle on the croutons.
Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese. I used up the rest of the marinara sauce as well.
Bake in preheated oven until cheese and croutons are golden brown and the chicken is no longer pink inside, about 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the shape and thickness of your chicken breasts.
An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chicken breast should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
It’s that simple!
