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