Yummy--Skillet Chicken Parmesan With Crisp Polenta

Yummy--Skillet Chicken Parmesan With Crisp Polenta 

This is one of those quick fixes that you're supposed to be able to put on the table in 30 minutes or less. Well sorry, Woman's Day but I was closer to 45 minutes. It's an impressive looking dish when put on a serving platter and it's not that much of a hassle to put together.

One part of the directions don't make sense on reading or execution. I'll put them in as written and put my suggestions in bold type and a parentheses.

Skillet Chicken Parmesan With Crisp Polenta 

1 large egg
1/3 c. seasoned dried bread crumbs
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 4 oz. each)
2 T. olive oil
1 tube (about 16 oz.) polenta, cut in 12 slices
1/2 c. packaged shredded mozzarella with Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. bottled marinara sauce
Garnish: chopped fresh basil or parsley

Lightly beat egg in a shallow dish. Spread crumbs on a sheet of wax paper or another shallow dish. Dip breasts in egg, then crumbs to coat.

Heat 1 T. oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken; cook 3-4 minutes per side or until golden and cooked through.  Remove chicken to serving dish.

Wipe out skillet with paper towel; add remaining 1 T. oil and heat.  Add polenta slices and cook 3 minutes until bottom slices are golden. Sprinkle tops with 1/4 c. cheese; turn slices over and cook 2-minutes until bottoms are golden and crisp. Remove to a serving platter. (When I did this all the cheese either fell off on the flip or stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Going forward, I would either skip the cheese here or sprinkle it on the flipped stuff and cook it that way.)

Pour marinara sauce into skillet; bring to a simmer.  Add chicken; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. cheese. Cover and cook 1 minute until cheese melts. Serve withe polenta.

Makes 4 servings

My Notes: I used Italian bread crumbs which was a nice touch. I've just done a freezer inventory so I had homemade marinara sauce on hand. I used that instead of bottled marinara. I found polenta in the dairy section of the supermarket marked corn mush. Be careful when you open the tube, there was a lot of water in the packaging that spurted out.