Black Label Chicken Parmesan

This past Saturday I was gifted with a big bag of PC Black Label food products. Which came in very handy Sunday night when I was faced with deciding on dinner. I had my eye on the big box of Fiorelli pasta that was in my bag but wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, since I wasn't on grocery duty this weekend and wasn't sure what I had to work with. Then I spied a jar of Black Label Marinara sauce in the pantry that David happened to pick up, having been inspired by our gift bag bounty. Rustling through the fridge I found some chicken breasts while the freezer yielded up some grated mozzarella cheese. A quick Google search later and I decided on Baked Chicken Parmesan, using my bottled marinara and Fiorelli pasta.



Everyone was really impressed with this dinner. The pasta and marinara were lovely. As soon as I opened the jar I had a good feeling about the sauce. It smelled sweet with hints of basil. It was definitely fresher than most jarred sauces I've used. It was also a good consistency. I find a lot of jarred pasta sauces to be watery - this one was just right. After preparing my chicken breasts (making breadcrumbs, mixing them with Parmesan cheese, brushing the chicken breasts with butter then breading and baking them in the oven) I heated it up the marinara and boiled the pasta. I spooned some of the marinara over the baked chicken and finished it with with the grated mozzarella, baking it a bit longer to brown the cheese. Then I spooned some pasta into a bowl, ladled in a bit of marinara and topped it all off with the chicken. Then, as usual, I took a fuzzy picture of it with my iPhone before diving in....

...to a pretty delicious Sunday dinner. The pasta coated very well and was gobbled up by the two fussiest eaters in my family who declared it awesome. They also loved the chicken (on the side - I knew better than to mix it with the pasta, heaven forbid). The last couple of years we've been buying Rustichella d'Abruzzo pasta, which I still love, but the PC black label was definitely in the same ballpark. I'm hoping it heats up well for lunch tomorrow because it made so much we have leftovers! Definitely a recipe I can whip up again for the whole family.

Baked Chicken Parmesan from Skinnytaste

• 4 (8 oz) chicken breast halves, sliced in half to make 8
• 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese 
• 1 cup marinara (I used PC Black Label)
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a large baking sheet lightly with spray.

Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Melt the butter in another bowl. Lightly brush the butter onto the chicken, then dip into breadcrumb mixture. Place on baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken. 

Lightly spray a little more oil on top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Turnchicken over, bake another 5 minutes.  

Remove from oven, spoon 1 tbsp sauce over each piece of chicken and top each with 1 1/2 tbsp of shredded mozzarella cheese. 

Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

I served this chicken on top of Fiorelli pasta mixed with marinara sauce.