Since we moved out of our house and into where we temporarily live, I find that we’re cooking a lot more than usual. As much as I love cooking/baking, doing it on weeknights was always a chore. One of the last things I want to do after a busy work day is go straight to the kitchen and spend an hour or so cooking. So, I’ve been looking for recipes that are on the simpler side, but are still delicious and comforting.
When I cook, I usually go by what meat is on sale at the grocery store. The week I made this, chicken breasts were on serious sale. I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while, so I thought why not give this a try? I really wasn’t expecting much, since there weren’t that many ingredients. However, this was absolutely delicious! The parmesan and pepperoni flavored the chicken breasts so well, which is usually a challenge with boneless chicken breasts, and then topping it all off with mozzarella? Oh man…this recipe is definitely a keeper.
Chicken Pizzaiola with Mozzarella and Pepperoni
Source: America’s Test Kitchen (as seen on Pinch of Yum)Ingredients:
- 3 cups of spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 oz. sliced pepperoni
- 8 oz. spaghetti
- salt and pepper
Directions:
- For the chicken, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Evenly spread the tomato sauce into a 9×13 inch baking dish (one that can withstand higher oven temperatures). In another shallow dish, spread the parmesan cheese.
- Prepare the chicken by pounding the meat to an even thickness (don’t pound it thin, just make the thickness even) and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the chicken and then coat with parmesan cheese. Lay the chicken on top of the spaghetti sauce and bake for 15 minutes.
- While the chicken is baking, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pasta, as well as a tbsp. of salt and cook the pasta (stirring often) until it’s al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water, drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
- Once the chicken has finished baking for the 15 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven, and raise the oven temperature to 475 degrees. Place pepperoni slices over the chicken breasts and sprinkle the mozzarella sauce over the chicken. Bake the chicken for about another 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Add some spaghetti sauce from the baking dish into the pasta and toss well to combine. If necessary, add the reserved pasta cooking water as needed. Serve the pasta with chicken and the remaining sauce.
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