Lighter Chicken Parmesan

Ainekset

1½ cups panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (about ½ cup), plus extra for serving

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons garlic powder

Table salt and ground black pepper

3 large egg whites

1 tablespoon water

3 (7- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloins removed and breasts trimmed (see note)

1 recipe Simple Tomato Sauce (recipe follows), warmed (see note)

3 ounces low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (about ¾ cup)

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves

Ohjeet

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475 degrees. Combine the bread crumbs and oil in a 12-inch skillet and toast over medium heat, stirring often, until golden, about 10 minutes. Spread the bread crumbs in a shallow dish and cool slightly; when cool, stir in the Parmesan.

2. In a second shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. In a third shallow dish, whisk the egg whites and water together.

3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, place a wire rack over the sheet, and spray the rack with vegetable oil spray. Halve the chicken horizontally, then cover the chicken halves with plastic wrap and pound the cutlets to an even ¼-inch thickness. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess. Using tongs, dip both sides of the cutlets into the egg whites and allow the excess egg to drip back into the dish. Finally, coat both sides of the chicken with the bread crumbs. Press on the bread crumbs to make sure they adhere. Lay the chicken on the wire rack.

4. Spray the tops of the chicken with vegetable oil spray. Bake until the meat is no longer pink in the center and feels firm when pressed with a finger, about 15 minutes.

5. Remove the chicken from the oven. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the sauce onto the center of each cutlet and top the sauce with 2 tablespoons of the mozzarella. Return the chicken to the oven and continue to bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the basil and serve, passing the remaining sauce and Parmesan separately.

Muistiinpanot

If you are tight on time, you can substitute 2 cups of your favorite plain tomato sauce for the Simple Tomato Sauce. To make slicing the chicken easier, freeze it for 15 minutes.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Crunchy fried chicken cutlets topped with cheese and tomato sauce, chicken Parmesan isn’t exactly a dish for dieters. Not wanting to eliminate it as an option for healthy eating, we looked for a way to get the crispy coating without using all the oil.

Baking seemed to be the best alternative to frying. We toasted panko (ultracrisp Japanese-style bread crumbs) with a little oil for color and to give them “fried” flavor without the fat. Adopting the conventional breading technique of dipping the cutlets in flour (with garlic powder for flavor), then egg, then bread crumbs, we cut more calories by using only the egg whites. We baked the breasts on a wire rack until they were almost done, then topped them with tomato sauce and shredded low-fat mozzarella to finish. Leaving the breasts on the rack rather than putting them in a casserole dish ensured that they would stay crisp as they baked. Served with a little extra sauce and grated Parmesan on the side, these oven-baked chicken Parmesan cutlets were crisp and full of flavor. And with 310 calories and 8 grams of fat, they have one-third less calories and two-thirds less fat than traditional versions.