In this month’s issue of Clean Eat­ing Mag­a­zine, Food Network’s Robin Miller made a Guilt­less Chicken Parme­san and I have to admit, this way of mak­ing Chicken Parm is a tried and true.  I will never go back to the tra­di­tional way of mak­ing this. The fla­vor added by the Dijon Mus­tard was fab­u­lous.  And, at under 500 calo­ries, well that is an added plus.

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GUILTLESS CHICKEN PARMESAN WITH PASTA

Recipe cour­tesy of Robin Miller & Clean Eating

Ingre­di­ents:

• Olive Oil Cook­ing Spray
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1./2 cup onion, divided
• 1 green bell pep­per, seeded and diced
• 2–3 cloves gar­lic, minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano, divided
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp. reduced fat Parme­san cheese, grated
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4  tsp. ground pepper
• 4 4oz bone­less, skin­less chicken breasts, pounded to 1-inch thickness
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup part-skim moz­zarella cheese, shredded
• 8 oz. cooked penne (or your favorite pasta)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Direc­tions:

1. Pre­heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Coat a large bak­ing sheet with cook­ing spray.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, bell pep­per and gar­lic and sauté 3 to 5 min­utes, until veg­eta­bles are soft. 
3. Add 1 tsp. oregano and stir to coat.  Cook 30 sec­onds, until oregano is fragrant. 
4. Add toma­toes and tomato paste and bring to a sim­mer.  Reduce heat to low, par­tially cover and sim­mer 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Mean­while, in a shal­low dish, com­bine panko, Parme­san, remain­ing 1 tsp. oregano, thyme, salt and black pep­per.  Mix with a fork to combine. 
6. Brush both sides of each chicken breast with the Dijon mus­tard.  Trans­fer each breast to panko mix­ture and turn to coat both sides. 
7. Arrange chicken on pre­pared bak­ing sheet.  Coat sur­face of chicken with cook­ing spray. 
8. Bake 20 minutes.
9. Top each chicken breast with 2 to 3 tbsp. of tomato sauce and 2 tbsp. mozzarella. 
10. Return chicken to oven and bake 10 min­utes more, until crush is golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly.
11. Arrange pasta on a serv­ing plate and top with remain­ing tomato sauce.  Serve chicken with pasta on the side, gar­nish­ing both with basil. 

Gather The Ingredients

Sim­mer­ing The Sauce

Panko Bread­ing

Mus­tard – So Much More Fla­vor­ful Than Egg

Moz­zarella and Home­made Sauce – Yes please…

The End Result…