Chicken Parmesan Over Traditional Chunky Italian Maranara Sauce

I absolutely LOVE when a recipe you've drooled over, dreamed about even, turns out EXACTLY like you hoped it would. THIS is such a recipe! And man, oh man, is it A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I  kept wishing my stomach was bigger so I could keep eating it. As it was , I totally gorged myself and am looking forward to repeats tomorrow.

I found this recipe over at thepioneerwoman.com. and it's actually the 2nd recipe of hers I've tried. The first one fell seriously short of my expectations so it's been over a year since I revisited her site. SOOOOOO glad I did! And I will do so again, I can assure you.

 I have to admit, before I finally tried this, I had never made a marinara sauce without basil or oregano in it. I had to come across this type of Chicken Parm sauce recipe by two different people, one of them posting the traditional Italian marinara her Nonni used to make, before I could convince myself it wasn't just some weird oversight. I kept thinking, "but where's the flavor going to come from"? Never fear my friends, this stuff is full of garlicy, oniony goodness and bursting with flavor that has you moaning and shoving more into you mouth even before you can fully swallow the previous bite.

~Ingredients

• 4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat [ 1/4-1/2 inch thick]
• 1/2-3/4 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 tsp salt 
• 2 TB Olive Oil
• 2 TB Butter
• 1 whole large Onion, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced—FRESH garlic REALLY makes a huge difference here! Use FRESH!
• 1 cup Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)
• 3 cans (14.5 Oz.-each) Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 TBSP dried Parsley
• 1 or 2  cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese [ or mix of Parmesan and Mozzarella]
• 1 tsp sugar [only if you use use a dry wine. I used a sweeter White Merlot, so I skipped the sugar]
• 1/2- 1 box pasta noodle of choice

Preparation Instructions

Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour. Set aside and season with a bit of salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil and butter together in a LARGE skillet over medium-hi [ between 6-7 on my dial] heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.

Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom.
Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and salt and combine well. Turn heat to medium-lo [abt 3 on my dial.] Lay chicken breasts over sauce, top with parmesan and cover. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. 

 At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook pasta until al dente.
 Add more cheese to taste and sprinkle with parsley. Cover with lid again until cheese is melted [abt 5 more minutes.]

Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with large scoop of chicken and sauce. Sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

This is AWESOME with my Italian Vegetable Medley

Spicy Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Spicy Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

CopyCat Buca di Beppo Restaurant Recipe

Makes 2 full 11" Casserole dishes [ 2 full boxes of jumbo shells]- [feeds 8-10]

1 box of large pasta shells

1 pound Italian sausage
1 (32 oz.) carton of Ricotta cheese
1.5 tsp dried basil
12 ounces frozen spinach with the water squeezed out
5 cloves garlic minced [1.5 tsp garlic powder]
3 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

2 quarts of your favorite pasta sauce-- or my Traditional Italian Marinara Sauce [like they serve it with at the restaurant]

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Add the shells and cook for 15 minutes. The shells will not be done completely. Drain the shells and run cold water over them.

Put a large frying pan over medium heat, add the sausage and crushed red peppers (depending how spicy you want it you can use as little or as much red pepper as you desire) and cook sausage thoroughly, breaking into very small pieces.
In a large bowl combine the ricotta cheese the shredded Italian cheese blend, garlic, basil and spinach then mix well. Add cooked [and drained] 1 pound Italian sausage with 1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper already added.

Place 1 cup cup of pasta sauce into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. With a spoon coat the bottom of the pan with the pasta sauce.
Take each pasta shell individually and stuff with the cheese mixture, it will take about 3 to 4 tablespoons of the mixture for each shell. Lay the shells into the pan coated with sauce, open side up. Continue until the baking dish if full. Pour what remains of the first quart of pasta sauce over the top of the shells. You will have enough ingredients to fill another pan so repeat the above steps.
Cover baking dish in foil and place into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

Spinach Stuffed Shells

Spinach Stuffed Shells
~Shell Stuffing~
 2 fat links Johnsonville Italian sausage, browned without casing, chopped small and drained
16 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
2 eggs
8 oz  frozen spinach, thawed and with all moisture squeezed out
2 cups mozzerella

~Marinara~
28 oz crushed tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
3 or 4  cloves crushed garlic [or 1 tsp garlic powder]
1 medium onion diced
2 TBSP dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme

*simmer about 30 minutes while putting together shells*

1. 1 box jumbo shells  prepared according to box directions
2. Spoon cheese mixture into cooked pasta shells [ about 2 TB per shell]
3. Spray grease baking dish and pour thin coating of sauce over bottom. 
4. Line up stuffed shells tightly together until dish is full, then pour remaining sauce over top and cover with foil. 
5. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Traditional Italian Marinara Sauce

• 1 tsp salt
• 2 TB Olive Oil
• 2 TB Butter
• 1 whole large Onion, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced—FRESH garlic REALLY makes a huge difference here! Use FRESH!
• 1 cup Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)
• 3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 TB dried Parsley

Saute onion and garlic in butter and olive oil on medium-low, about 5 minutes. Add wine and simmer together an additional 5 minutes. Add tomato and parsley, stir well. Cover and let simmer on low about 30 minutes.