CHICKEN PARMIGIANA WITH TOMATO SPAGHETTI

Life is starting to get back to normal now my baby is 3 months old although it is certainly not like I remembered....to start with I just have so little time. Leaving the house takes forever and I just seem to take ages to get anything done. I do miss the freedom I used to have but then I wouldn't change a thing as I am obsessed with Olympia - she is so cute and smiley and her little giggle melts my heart. 

Anyway I finally got round to cooking a new recipe today and it was a winner. It was a Waitrose recipe and took about 20 minutes - not surprisingly I added extra cheese!

Ingredients for 4 people:

300g wholewheat spaghetti
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
25g fresh basil, shredded
2 chicken breast fillets
1 egg, beaten
50g breadcrumbs (panko or golden)
200g mozzarella, sliced

To serve:
Parmesan, grated

I like to start by preparing all the ingredients - cutting the tomatoes, onion and basil, slicing the chicken and mozzarella, beating the egg and boiling the water for the spaghetti.

This recipe is quick but there is a lot to do at the same time.

Cook the pasta in a pan of salted boiling water according for the packet's instructions. Mine took 10 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the onion for 3 minutes and then mix in the tomatoes, paprika, basil and a dash of water (about 50ml) and season. Cook for around 7 minutes and then just before the pasta is ready, pop the tomato mixture in a blender and puree.

Cut the chicken in half horizontally and dip first in the egg and then the breadcrumbs and coat as evenly as possible. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken for around 8 minutes, turning occasionally until cooked through with no pink meat. Just before it is ready, preheat the grill to high.

When the chicken is ready, top with a couple of slices of mozzarella and pop under the grill for around 2 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Finally once the pasta is ready, mix with the tomato sauce, a sprinkling of Parmesan and then serve with the chicken.

This is something I would order in a restaurant and it did not disappoint. Both Pascal and I adored this and in fact Pascal's only complaint was it was too small - he definitely wanted an entire chicken breast to himself. I also had made the mistake of freezing the basil as I had originally planned to cook this last week - I wouldn't recommend it as it was so soggy - fresh basil would definitely be better! 
This only took around 20 minutes to make and I will definitely make this again - I am sure Arabella will also be a big fan.

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