Well Payton couldn't have said it any better, we have chicken parm at least a couple times a month. It's one of those things we make that gets eaten almost faster than I can make it !! Well as things would have it I think we can all agree that everything smoked is better, so why not do smoked chicken parm? Now obviously I'm not talking about low and slow, 12 hour cooks here, but instead of using a fry pan or the oven in my house, I'm going to try roasting in my pellet pooper instead.
So lets make us some chicken parm. First the star of the show. Here's a quick rundown of ingredients needed for the chicken;
4 each 8 oz. boneless chicken breasts
AP Flour for dredging, a cup or so
1 egg and 2 cups of milk for wash
2-3 cups of Panko bread crumbs (about half a box or as needed)
Seasoning for the above three
About 1/2 cup of Marinara tomato sauce per chicken breast (recipe below or jarred)
Freshly made and packaged Mozzarella cheese for slicing
Typically I set up my breading station to include an AP flour dredge, followed by an egg wash then into seasoned Panko crumbs. I bought some air chilled 8 oz. boneless chicken breasts and pounded them out to about 3/8" or so for even consistent cooking.....
....after their dressing up, I like to refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the breading set and give the pellet cooker time to warm up. As I would do in my oven, I'm roasting them at 350* with an Amazen Tube to give them a kiss of smoke. So on they go for the pellet ride for about 30 minutes (or an IT of 160*) ......
So while we wait, we need to make a basic marinara sauce. Marinara can really be made as simple or as complex as you want, or you may even opt to use a store brand jar mix. Some of them are pretty darn good !! I always like scratch made, mainly because I don't know what's in the jar sauce and I like a certain flavor profile. Here then is what I typically like to use.....
1 medium sized onion finely diced
4-5 cloves of garlic, little less than a 1/4 cup, finely chopped
2 - 28 oz. cans of Italian San Marzano tomatoes (or Muir Glen Fire Roasted are a good alternative)
1 - 6 oz. can of tomato paste (optional, I like a thick sauce, if you prefer thin just eliminate)
1/4 cup of dry white wine like a Souvignon Blanc
1 tsp of dried Italian herbs
1/4 cup of a chiffonade of fresh basil leaves (try to find, dry is a poor substitute)
3 bay leave broken in half
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil for sauteing
and optional - 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano (freshly grated)
Start by sauteing the onions in a medium hot cast iron pot. Sweat them down for about 5-7 minutes then add the chopped garlic. Continue to sweat for a few more minutes. Begin your seasoning with salt and pepper at this stage.
When the onions and garlic have softened and cooked down, de-glaze the pot with the wine. Continue to cook and reduce the wine onion mix until most of the liquid has evaporated and begins to thicken. Add your two cans of tomatoes to the mix. Season again to taste. Canned tomatoes can be a little on the salty side so taste before salting ! If the San Marzanos are whole, they can easily be chopped up with a potato masher. An option to that is to puree them in a blender and pour the resulting liquid into the pot. I prefer a chunkier sauce. Continue to simmer until sauce begins to bubble, about 10 minutes.
At this point add your Italian seasoning and your bay leaves. Stir and keep simmering. As the sauce begins to loosen with the heat, add (once again optional to your textural taste) the can of tomato paste. Stir in well.
Continue simmering to incorporate the ingredients. Your sauce is essentially done. Optional, as well as boosting it up a notch, I like to add a 1/4 cup of grated Romano and some freshly chopped basil leaves.
Place your sauce on the back burner on low to continue simmering. Begin boiling a pot of salted water to make some pasta to go along with the chicken as a side. Your chicken should be done so pull it and begin ladling a healthy amount of sauce on top of your chicken breasts. Coat as much of the top as you can with the back of a spoon....
....this should be followed very closely by some 1/4" thick slices of freshly made mozzarella cheese, 2-3 slices per chicken breast.....
....at this point you can either place the tray into a hot broiler to melt the cheese OR in my case I returned it to the hot pellet cooker and cranked the heat up to 450* for about 10 minutes.....and there you have it...chicken parm !!!
There are a lot of different serving options, in my case I made some pasta with some of the remaining sauce, topped with a little Parmigiano Reggiano. Serve with a side of bread and pair it with a good Italian Chianti Calssico red wine.
One final note, the chicken picked up a little added color and grill flavor. It was subtle but it was there. I may try a pre-smoke prior to the breading. Be careful not to over smoke, the thin chicken will dry out if over cooked. Either way, the dish benefited from its time in the smoker !!!
SO GIT YOU SOME OF THAT !!! HOPE YOU ENJOYED !!!!
TROUTMAN STEVE IS OUTTA HERE !!!!!
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