I live in an area with an abundance of tiny Italian restaurants. One of the most popular meals served at these places is Chicken Parmigiana. If you aren't familiar with Chicken Parmigiana, you've been missing out! It's a chicken breast pan fried and then topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella. (In my neck of the woods, Parmesan cheese is always missing from Chicken Parmigiana. )

Now this meal is always, always, always served with a side order of pasta and broccoli. So, of course, I've included those elements in my meal. Is this "hip and trendy" Italian food? Nope. But, I promise, it's really good!

Chicken

3 chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), split

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

Dash Hot Sauce

1/3 cup white rice flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

Pinch salt

Pinch freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups gluten-free bread crumbs

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 pound mozzarella, grated

Olive oil, for cooking

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Pound breasts to approx 1/2-inch thickness. Set aside.

3. Place three dinner plates (or pie plates, whatever you have handy) on the counter.

4. Fill the first plate with white rice flour, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.

5. Fill the next plate with egg, milk, and a dash of hot sauce. Whisk to combine.

6. Fill the last plate with bread crumbs and remaining spices.

7. Dip the chicken breasts in the following order: flour mixture, egg mixture, bread crumb mixture. Be sure to coat chicken pieces thoroughly with each mixture.

8. Place coated chicken on a baking tray.

9. Fill a large non-stick skillet with 1/4-inch of olive oil. Heat skillet over medium-high heat.

10. Cook each chicken breast for 4-5 minutes. Chicken should sizzle when it hits the oil. Flip and cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F and the breading is golden brown. (Be sure not to crowd your pan. You might need to cook the chicken in two batches.)

11. Remove chicken from the pan. Place on clean baking sheet. (You don't want to use the pan that had the raw chicken on it.)

12. When all chicken is cooked, top each piece with tomato sauce. The amount of sauce will vary depending on the size of the chicken breasts. My chicken breasts were large, so I used about 3 tablespoons of sauce on each breast. Sprinkle grated mozzarella over the top of the sauce. (I like to sprinkle a little dried basil on each piece of chicken because it looks like pretty. I'll leave this up to you.)

13. Bake in preheated oven until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

14. Serve with cooked pasta and broccoli.

Serves Four to Five

Pasta

1/2 pound gluten-free penne pasta

2 cups your favorite tomato sauce, warm

Parmesan cheese, optional

1. Cook pasta in salted, boiling water until tender.

2. When tender, drain and toss with tomato sauce.

3. If you'd like, sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese.

Broccoli

3 broccoli crowns (Or enough broccoli to feed your family)

1. Boil a pot of water. Add a generous amount of salt. Add broccoli. Cook until broccoli is bright green and tender but not mushy. (You don't want your broccoli to be olive green or limp.)