Chef's Notes
This dish goes particularly well with Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Sauteed Carrots</>.
Step 1: Preparing the Breading
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 2 green onions
- 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
To start, preheat your oven to 375° F (190° C). If you don’t have fresh bread crumbs on hand, grind/pulse 2 to 3 slices of white bread in a food processor until quite fine.
Next, finely grate the Parmesan cheese and finely chop the green onions. Melt the butter. Zest half of the lemon. Juice half of the lemon and reserve for making the sauce.
In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, onions, lemon zest, melted butter, salt and pepper to taste.
Step 2: Preparing the Chicken
- 4 single chicken breasts
To prepare the chicken, remove the tender from each breast and save for another use. If desired, remove the tendons before storing.
Lightly grease or spray a baking tray with oil. Place the chicken breasts onto the tray, leaving about one inch between each breast.
Divide the crumb mixture between the breasts and press evenly over the top.
Step 3: Baking the Chicken
Place the chicken into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until just cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pan. Gently cover with foil to keep warm while you make the sauce.
Step 4: Making the Sauce & Finishing the Dish
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tbsp Italian parsley
- 1 tbsp reserved lemon juice
- 1 to 2 tsp cold, unsalted butter (optional)
- kosher salt (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
To make the sauce, scrape any bits from the baking tray (even the crumbs) into a small pot. Place over medium heat and add the chicken stock, along with the lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and let reduce by about half.
In the meantime, roughly chop the parsley.
To finish the sauce, taste for seasoning. This sauce is supposed to have a nice punch of lemon flavor, so add a touch more lemon juice, if needed. If you like, you can also finish the sauce with a bit of cold butter. This will give the sauce a nice sheen and will also mellow out the lemon juice.
Once the chicken is plated, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the sauce over each breast and serve immediately.