Parmesan-crusted chicken thighs in a homemade tomato sauce
Serve hot from the oven with soft, creamy polenta, a few fresh basil leaves, and a generous handful of grated parmesan cheese over the top.
Some nights, you just want dinner to sort itself out. This baked chicken parm is about as close as it gets. It’s one of those meals that feels like a treat, but doesn’t ask too much of you – crumbed chicken, rich tomato sauce, gooey mozzarella, and all baked in one dish.
We’ve started keeping a box of Southern Fried crumbed chicken in the freezer just for this. It saves time and still delivers on flavour. The homemade tomato sauce comes together quickly with just a few pantry staples like onion, garlic, chilli flakes, and tinned tomatoes. Add a splash of white wine if you’ve got it open, or a squeeze of lemon if not. Layer the sauce and chicken in a baking dish, top with mozzarella slices, and pop it in the oven.
Twenty minutes later, it’s bubbling, cheesy, and smells like you’ve spent way more time on it than you have. Recipe compliments of Astral Chicken.
Prep time: 10min | Cook time: 35 min | Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp (30ml) olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp (5ml) chilli flakes
- 1 Tbsp (15ml) Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp (10ml) tomato paste
- ¼ cup (60ml) white wine (optional)
- 2 (410g) tomato cans or 500ml tomato passata
- ½ cup (125ml) chicken stock
- 6 Southern Fried crumbed chicken pieces
- 6 slices mozzarella
To serve:
- Parmesan, grated
- 10g fresh basil
- 400g polenta
Method
- Parmigiana sauce: In a medium-sized pan, on low heat, sauté onions in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add garlic, chilli flakes, Italian seasoning, and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with wine and simmer down till the wine scent has dissipated. Use the juice of 1 lemon if you prefer not to cook with alcohol.
- Add tomato passata (or cans) and chicken stock. Simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Assemble: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place ¾ of the sauce in an oven-proof dish, nestle chicken pieces into the sauce, and drizzle chicken with the remainder of the tomato sauce.
- Place mozzarella on top of the chicken pieces and bake for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve with polenta, fresh basil and parmesan.
