Parmesan-Baked Chicken Breasts

Votes: 6

Time: 1 hour 40 min.
Complexity: easily
Servings: 4

The secret to this simple, yet delicious and filling dish from Giada De Laurentiis is a simple tomato sauce, to which she adds garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. She then purees the mixture and then pours it over the chicken breasts.

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

3 tbsp. l. olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Eight pieces of chicken breast fillet, approximately 80 grams each
1.5 cups plain tomato sauce, see recipe below or store bought marinara sauce
0.5 tbsp. grated mozzarella cheese
16 tsp finely grated Parmesan cheese (40 g)
2 tbsp (30 g) butter, cut into pieces

Simple tomato sauce:

0.5 cups olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 chopped carrot
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Two cans of canned chopped tomatoes in their own juice (900 g each)
4-6 fresh basil leaves
2 dried bay leaves
4 tbsp (60 g) butter

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

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Recipes with similar ingredients: rosemary, thyme, parsley, chicken breasts, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, onions, garlic, celery, carrot, tomatoes, basil, bay leaf, marinara sauce

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

Preheat oven to 260°C.
Whisk the olive oil and herbs together in a small bowl until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Rub the mixture over both sides of the meat. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add the meat pieces and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat.

Pour the tomato sauce over the chicken, including the area around it. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mozzarella cheese over each chicken piece, then sprinkle each with 2 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese. Place a pat of butter on top. Bake until the cheese is melted and the chicken breasts are cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.
Simple tomato sauce:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil, and bay leaf and simmer over low heat for 1 hour or until thickened. Remove the bay leaf and taste for seasoning. If the sauce still tastes tart, add 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of butter to thicken the sauce.
Add half of the tomato sauce to the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth. Repeat with the remaining tomato sauce.
If you don't use all the sauce, let it cool completely and pour 1-2 cups at a time into plastic freezer bags, then freeze them. This will keep the sauce for up to 6 months.