Pesto night: A delicious twist on good old chicken Parm
Here’s something we don’t like to admit is true, said Charlotte Druckman in Kitchen Remix: 75 Recipes for Making the Most of Your Ingredients (Clarkson Potter). “Even bad chicken Parmigiana is good.” We’ll eat it with inferior tomato sauce or a questionable cheese product topping; we’ll even eat it cold. So “imagine what chicken Parmigiana could be under the best circumstances.” This “tour de force” dish is my ideal: tender chicken coated with potato chips and smeared with a bright pesto.
Serve it on a plate or try it in sandwich form—on a long, thick roll, topped with arugula, extra pesto, and a squeeze of lemon. You can also bypass the broiler and skip the cheese and pesto. That version delivers “the maximum crunch from the chips.”
Place a baking rack on a parchment-lined baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray. Set an oven rack so that the chicken on the baking rack will sit 2 to 3 inches from the broiler. Preheat oven to 400.
Spread ¼ cup flour on a large plate and season with a pinch each of salt and black pepper. Add milk to a medium bowl and season with same. Fill a separate medium bowl with potato-chip crumbs, remaining tbsp flour, and cayenne. Stir to combine.
Season each chicken breast on both sides with salt and black pepper. One at a time, dip breasts in seasoned flour to coat, shaking off any excess, then dunk in the milk, letting any excess drip off, and roll through potato chip mixture, pressing to coat. Place on prepared baking rack. Pat any remaining potato chip coating into top side of breasts.
Bake breasts until crust is golden, they’re just cooked through, and juices run clear, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove chicken from oven and turn on broiler. Cover each breast with 2 pieces of mozzarella. Return chicken to oven and broil until cheese is bubbling and just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a large serving platter and let rest 5 minutes. Gently smear a few spoonfuls of pesto over each breast. Serves 4.