Chicken Parmesan *Bake* (not fried!)

Who loves one-dish dinners? *I do! I do!* I particularly like them because I live alone, and cooking a large one dish meal once a week and reheating it for the remainder of the week is much easier than cooking dinner for one person every night. Cooking for one is hard work, guys.

This week I made a chicken parmesan bake, based off of this recipe. I like that it's baked, not fried, because frying is a lot more work, and is less healthy. It is perfect paired with a side salad, or atop some spaghetti. Or, I just ate it all on its own, which was fine by me. 

Let’s get to it! 

Ingredients: 

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – I used 4, simply because that’s how many fit into the bottom of my dish. They were pretty large. The original recipe called for 6. 
• Cooking oil – I use extra virgin olive oil for all of my cooking oil needs. 
• Garlic to taste 
• Marinara sauce – 2 cups 
• Mozzarella cheese – 250g shredded 
• Parmesan cheese – 125g grated (I used Kraft parmesan from the spaghetti isle) 
• Garlic flavoured croutons – one package about 150g 

Cooking time 

Preheat your oven to 350°F 

Coat the bottom of a cooking dish with oil – I used an 8”x12” stoneware casserole dish. Add some garlic to taste. Lay the chicken breasts onto the bottom of the dish so that they cover the bottom and they’re not resting on top of each other. *Next time I make this dish, I’m going to cut each breast in half before putting them in the dish, simply because I only eat half at a time. 

Pour the marinara sauce on top of the chicken. Then sprinkle half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan on top of the sauce. 

Spread the croutons over the cheese. 

Then load the top of the dish with the remaining cheese. 

Bake the dish, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked (internal temperature of 74°C or 165°F). Use a thermometer to check for thorough cooking! I checked mine after 45 minutes, but had to put it back in for another 15 minutes. I guess my dish is really thick. Or my oven is less-than-awesome. Probably the oven thing *yay rental properties*

As I said, I ate this by itself and it was amazing. The croutons are the highlight of this dish, and they remain crispy on top, but are moist on the bottom. It’s awesome. Try it out for yourself and see what you think!