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the video description. Let's get down to basics. (upbeat music) Alright so before we can
ake Chicken Parmesan, we must first make a sauce. To make a super basic tomato sauce, we're just gonna saute a
quarter of a chopped onion, for about three minutes
or until translucent, add a couple of cloves of garlic. Saute those for about 30 seconds before adding two to three
tablespoons of tomato paste, and a shake of red chili flake. Saute those together for about a minute, before adding a 28-ounce can
of whole San Marzano tomatoes. Stir those in, crush them up, place the whole thing over medium heat and bring it up to a
simmer lowering the heat, just enough to maintain a bare bubble. We're also gonna add a little
shake of dried oregano, a couple of stems of basil
and one cup of tap water, or bottled water I guess if
you're a real fancy pants. Then we're just gonna let this
simmer for about 45 minutes, until the flavors have
melded and mellowed out. Meanwhile, over on the countertop, it's time to prep our chicken. I've got four large breasts
here that I'm gonna lay out on some plastic wrap and butterfly, cutting from the rounded
side of the breast, towards the flat side and
opening it up like a book. Then I'm gonna lay another
sheet of plastic wrap on top of the breasts, and pound them out using a meat pounder. You could also use the bottom
of fry pan or your bare fists, if you've got issues to work out. Flattening the breasts is gonna help them cook more quickly and evenly, and give us maximum surface
area on which to bread. Most of it's gonna hit them
a little bit of kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper
before setting aside, so that we might assemble
our breading station. The first two platforms of which are a couple of beaten eggs, preferably without their shells, let's start with three, and then we've also got
some, all purpose flour, a little sprinkle of which
we're gonna add to the eggs. This is gonna create
more of an egg slurry, That's gonna have an easier time adhering to the surface of the chicken. And then I don't know, let's make it four eggs,
a little bit more flour, and then for ease of dipping, we're spreading panko breadcrumbs
out on a rim baking sheet with a generous sprinkle
of Parmesan cheese, the pre-graded stuff, no
need to be fancy here. Then to the flour I'm also
gonna add some spices. I got some garlic powder, some dried oregano and dried basil, maybe about a half teaspoon
each per cup of flour. Also some freshly ground
pepper for good measure. Tiny whisk those to combine, and we're ready to commence to dipping. Down some disposable
gloves if you got them, and we're gonna do our very best, to exercise the wet
hand, dry hand technique. That is, using one hand for wet stuff, one hand for dry stuff. We're starting in the flour. Once every nook and cranny is covered, we're dipping in the egg. Likewise, making sure that it is evenly coated in egg slurry, and then it's headed into the breadcrumbs, where you guessed it, every nook and cranny should be covered. Now, if you like an extra crispy crust, and you wanna really go crazy, you could double-dip. That is head back into the egg
slurry from the breadcrumbs, and once more back into the breadcrumbs. Once everybody's coated, we're letting the chicken
hang out in the breadcrumbs, until we're ready to fry. This is going to strengthen their coating. Meanwhile, over on the stove top, our sauce is looking pretty, ready to go. Give it a taste to see how it's grown sweet and saucy with time. There's no need to add
sugar to tomato sauce, just salt and freshly ground pepper. Make sure to fish out any basil stems. Set aside and keep warm
until ready to serve. Next up, we're heating
a quart of peanut oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and dropping in our chicken, frying for roughly five minutes until deeply golden brown on the outside, and cooked through. This shouldn't take too long, so long as your oil is hot
and your chicken is thin. Fish out the pieces once they're done, and let them drain on paper towels. This is gonna soak up excess
oil and keep them crisp. Rinse and repeat with
the remaining chicken, and then it's time to finish. So go ahead and preheat your broiler, because we wanna get stuff bubbly. Our chicken cutlets are
headed onto a wire rack, set in a rim baking sheet, where they shall be topped
with a couple of things. First up some fresh basil. Now I know what you're saying,
basil under the broiler? But don't worry, it's going
to be protected by the cheese. Copious slices of fresh mozzarella, about as much as you can fit on there. And to assist with both
flavor and browning, some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. This is where you wanna use the freshly grated stuff if possible. These guys are headed under the broiler for just a few minutes, just enough time to get our pasta ready. You'll notice that we got
the pasta boiling in a pot, right next to a big old saute pan. That's because we're finishing
the pasta in the sauce. Few generous ladle fulls, that we're gonna put over medium heat. Until just bubbling, add in the pasta when it's just about a minute shy of done. We're then gonna finish
cooking the pasta in the sauce, along with about a half
cup of pasta water. Is both gonna finish cooking the pasta, and help emulsify the sauce
and make it almost creamy. But a few things that are
gonna make it actually creamy, once it's done kill the heat, add some freshly chopped basils, some freshly shaved Parmesan. And because we're decidedly not trying to be healthy with this meal, a couple tablespoons of unsalted butter. This is how you take
pasta with tomato sauce to the next level. Meanwhile, our chicken
cutlets are out the oven, and looking pretty awesome. But I know you're going to say, Babish why are you doing
that with your hands? Also, why you melting
cheese on fried chicken, and calling it chicken Parm? Well, I'll tell you why. Because once we proudly plate
up our poultry on tapper, prominent peak of pasta. Brown sauce up the cutlets
on top of the cheese. I know that this is not
the most traditional look, but it prevents the chicken's
crust from getting soggy, so that even leftovers will
remain pleasantly crisp. Not that there's gonna be any leftovers. Once we hit this with shaved Parmesan and a little bit of fresh basil, it becomes one of the most easily demolishable dishes
in Basics Babish history. This has gotta be one of my
top five favorite dishes. And without question
would be my last meal. So before you head to the pearly gates, make sure you try this at least once. It's worth the time,
it's worth the effort, it's worth the calories, it's worth repeatedly scalding
the roof of your mouth, and having an Italian-American
hangover the next day. Hope you guys try it for yourselves. Let me know what you think and remember, stay crispy out there. Thank you again to Trade Coffee
for sponsoring this episode. Trade has a massive amount
of high quality coffees, from the nation's top roasters. Customized your preferences, and continually evolving
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John Brown from PT's Coffee and Topeka, Kansas, a medium dark blend with
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the video description. And for the people in
your life who love coffee, Trade offers, gift subscriptions too. (upbeat music)
Literally had the thought last night “he should do a basics on chicken parm.” Thanks for reading my mind u/OliverBabish
Chicky chicky parm parm
Looks amazing. Makes sense to wait to put the sauce on after broiling to keep the sauce from making the chicken soggy.
I'm super curious about the choice of rotini - seems like a very non-traditional pasta especially for a dish like this. I think a homemade linguini would have made this exceptional!
♫ Chicken parm you taste so good ♫
Would doing the chicken wing method of frying at low temp, freezing, frying again at high temp work for this?
Australian's are going to hate this
Dang, guess I found what I'm making for dinner this weekend
Chicken isn't vegan?
My bf is allergic to peanuts. I’m guessing canola oil or any other oil will work right ?