Newsletter #20 – Parmigiana
Early Italian migrants to North America brought with them traditional recipes which naturally they adapted to suit the local ingredients. One of those original recipes was parmigiana which is an eggplant dish topped with a tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. It was adapted to suit both chicken and veal.
The basis of the meat parmigiana is thin breaded veal which we commonly refer to as schnitzel. Its origins can be traced back both Austria and Northern Italy and shouldn’t be confused with a similar dish called Picatti.
In Australia we embraced the schnitzel, particularly the chicken variety a few decades ago. Now it would be almost impossible to find a pub or club in Australia that did not have chicken schnitzel on the menu.
I remember when I was apprenticed in the early 1970’s; veal schnitzel was a specialty of the restaurant I was working at. It was pan-fried in a mixture of good quality oil and butter. You would probably have found veal schnitzel on the menu in most restaurants offering cuisine from Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries.
So how did the chicken schnitzel become so popular in Australia? Well basically it came down to a few core reasons. For the customer it was the appeal of the crunchy breadcrumb coating and the reasonable price. For the pub or club, it was a no-brainer. Chicken schnitzels were easy to prepare and even easier to cook; pan-frying was out, and deep-frying was in. A big advantage of chicken as opposed to veal was price stability throughout the year. I think a big reason was that people were not deep-frying food at home because it is just too expensive and messy; and we do like deep-fried food.
So, I have slightly digressed, for the subject of today is parmigiana and depending on where you live in Australia the term parmigiana can be used pretty broadly.
In Victoria, in 2018 the then premier, Dan Andrews released a statement intended to stifle debate on whether ‘parma’or ‘parmi was the correct term when used in conjunction with buying a beer. Parma and Pot won the day, but the debate still rages, and pub menus are still running with both Chicken parmigiana and the eggplant variety.
In N.S.W. the national love of abbreviating names continues, and people refer to chicken schnitzels as ‘schnittys’. Taking the discussion a little further you will find that a ‘parmi’ night (my preferred spelling) can also refer to a chicken schnitzel without the said tomato sauce and cheese but with an array of different toppings and sauces.
At the end of a day chicken schnitzels are an expensive way of buying breadcrumbs
So, I thought for today I would show you a simple, easy and a little different way of preparing chicken parmigiana.
The no crumb chicken parmigiana:
Coating a thin slice of raw chicken with breadcrumb can increase the weight of the finished schnitzel by 50%
By deleting the breadcrumb, you will be decreasing the weight and also minimizing the amount of carbohydrate in the coating and hence the amount of chicken you use per person should be increased.
Skinless chicken breast fillet is your best option for this recipe, but you can also get a good result using skinless thigh fillet.
The coating for this recipe is a light dusting of flour and beaten egg. But firstly, let’s have a look at the all important tomato sauce recipe; in fact, two recipes, both using a small saucepan.
Ingredients
Method
- In a small saucepan combine the four ingredients and heat
- Simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Ready
- Ready
Ingredients
Method
- In a small saucepan over a medium heat, sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 4 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for another 1 minute
- Add the tomatoes. Rinse the can out with 50ml of water and add to the pot
- Add the white wine, basil leaves, bay leaf and a little seasoning
- Stir together and bring to boil before simmering slowly for 10 minutes
- Check seasoning and add a little sugar (optional)
- Ready
Ingredients
Method
- Assemble ingredients
- Flatten or cut the breast fillet to an even thickness of around 4mm
- Season both sides with a little garlic, paprika, salt and pepper
- Light dredge the chicken in flour, pat off excess
- In a small bowl mix the egg, parmesan and parsley
- Dip the chicken in the egg mix. Ensure good coverage
- In a non-stick frypan melt the butter with the oil over medium heat
- When the butter is hot enough to foam place your coated chicken fillet in the pan
- Add a little more egg mix to the chicken’s top side. Cook on medium heat for two minutes
- Turn the chicken and cook the reverse side for a further two minutes.
- Take out and place on absorbent kitchen paper.
- Ready
- Set your oven to grill setting, or turn on your air-fryer
- Place the cooked chicken on a suitably sized oven able dish
- Coat the chicken liberally with the tomato sauce and top with cheese
- Grill the chicken for about 3 minutes until the cheese is bubbling
