Mother's Day Italian
I hope you mothers out there had a fabulous Mother's Day yesterday. We went to church in the morning, ate Japanese food for lunch, shopped at the mall, and then I cooked dinner for everyone. I'm really digging on Italian grub (as you can tell from my last post), so I made some more Italian food for Mother's Day. Click on the LJ cut to see what I made!
©2006 Little Yuzu
The tomato sauce simmering on the stove
Thin chicken breast fillets soaking in olive oil & basil
Chicken breasts in the frying pan
Topping the chicken with the sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan and butter
Chicken Parmesan served with lemon spaghetti and fresh greens w/balsamic vinaigrette
I know chicken Parmesan is usually breaded, but...I don't know how to do that. ;P And this way seemed healthier for some reason. If you'd like to make this meal at home, here are the recipes:Chicken Parmesan
Tomato sauce:
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. white onion, finely chopped
2 14½-oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 tsp. chopped basil
¼ tsp. thyme
¼ tsp. rosemary
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
⅓ cup white wine
In a large skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and chopped onions to the skillet and cook until slightly brown. Add the canned tomatoes and blend well. Toss in the basil, thyme and rosemary. Sprinkle a little bit of ground black pepper. Add the white wine while stirring throughout. Sauce will be slightly thin. Let simmer over a low heat so it can thicken.
Chicken Parmesan:
6 thinly sliced chicken breast fillets
⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. chopped basil
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. rosemary
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup shredded mozzarella
¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. butter
Preheat the oven to 475ºF.
Mix the olive oil and herbs together in a large bowl. Add a dash of salt and pepper and blend. Place the chicken breast fillets into the bowl and rub them in the herb oil so that they're fully coated. In a large oven-safe skillet over high heat, add the coated chicken fillets and cook until each side is golden brown. Depending on how thick the chicken is sliced, this could take anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes. Remove skillet from the stovetop and spoon the tomato sauce over and around each breast fillet. Sprinkle mozzarella on top of each one, and then put the Parmesan on top of that. Put a little chunk of butter on top of the cheese on each fillet, then bake in the oven for about 5 minutes (or as long as it takes to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through).
Lemon Spaghetti - this is super easy!
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons or 3 small ones)
¼ cup chopped basil
ground black pepper
1 lb. package of spaghetti
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add several drops of extra virgin olive oil to the water and add the pasta. Cook until the spaghetti noodles are soft but slightly firm when biting into them. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and basil. Sprinkle some ground black pepper into the bowl as well, and blend thoroughly. Drain the pasta, but leave about 1 cup of the water in the pot. Blend the lemon-juice mixture with the spaghetti noodles until it's all mixed in together.
Serves 6 delicious portions. :)
©2006 Little Yuzu
The tomato sauce simmering on the stove
Thin chicken breast fillets soaking in olive oil & basil
Chicken breasts in the frying pan
Topping the chicken with the sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan and butter
Chicken Parmesan served with lemon spaghetti and fresh greens w/balsamic vinaigrette
I know chicken Parmesan is usually breaded, but...I don't know how to do that. ;P And this way seemed healthier for some reason. If you'd like to make this meal at home, here are the recipes:Chicken Parmesan
Tomato sauce:
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. white onion, finely chopped
2 14½-oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 tsp. chopped basil
¼ tsp. thyme
¼ tsp. rosemary
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
⅓ cup white wine
In a large skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and chopped onions to the skillet and cook until slightly brown. Add the canned tomatoes and blend well. Toss in the basil, thyme and rosemary. Sprinkle a little bit of ground black pepper. Add the white wine while stirring throughout. Sauce will be slightly thin. Let simmer over a low heat so it can thicken.
Chicken Parmesan:
6 thinly sliced chicken breast fillets
⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. chopped basil
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. rosemary
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup shredded mozzarella
¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. butter
Preheat the oven to 475ºF.
Mix the olive oil and herbs together in a large bowl. Add a dash of salt and pepper and blend. Place the chicken breast fillets into the bowl and rub them in the herb oil so that they're fully coated. In a large oven-safe skillet over high heat, add the coated chicken fillets and cook until each side is golden brown. Depending on how thick the chicken is sliced, this could take anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes. Remove skillet from the stovetop and spoon the tomato sauce over and around each breast fillet. Sprinkle mozzarella on top of each one, and then put the Parmesan on top of that. Put a little chunk of butter on top of the cheese on each fillet, then bake in the oven for about 5 minutes (or as long as it takes to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through).
Lemon Spaghetti - this is super easy!
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons or 3 small ones)
¼ cup chopped basil
ground black pepper
1 lb. package of spaghetti
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add several drops of extra virgin olive oil to the water and add the pasta. Cook until the spaghetti noodles are soft but slightly firm when biting into them. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and basil. Sprinkle some ground black pepper into the bowl as well, and blend thoroughly. Drain the pasta, but leave about 1 cup of the water in the pot. Blend the lemon-juice mixture with the spaghetti noodles until it's all mixed in together.
Serves 6 delicious portions. :)