Chicken Parmigiana.

I’ve come across it once or twice before, but having seen it in the Good Food mag recently I felt like doing it again, with all the attention and love it deserves. There’s always passata in my pantry, there’s always a chunk of parmesan, all the other stuff came from Sainsbury’s this morning. So having painted a chunk of my garden fence I’ve made us a chicken parmigiana for dinner. And it was very much enjoyed.

I started with a nice tomato sauce, a shallot, a couple of cup mushrooms, some passata, some dry oregano, lots of seasoning. While that was bubbling away I cut my chicken breasts into smaller pieces, bashed them flattish, seasoned, tossed in flour, then in egg, then in a breadcrumbs and parmesan mixture. Pan fried briefly, without worrying if it’s under- it was en route to the oven. Tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish, chicken, more sauce, some mozzarella and more parmesan, some fresh chopped cherry tomatoes. It baked for 20-25 minutes until the cheese began to brown up.

Served with crusty bread and some chianti, followed by some French cheeses. Austerity. 🙂

Amaretti biscuits.

I was running around Cheltenham the other day looking for these, hoping to sprinkle some crushed on the pasta. There were none in Sainsbury’s, Home Sense was closed, M&S tried hard, but no. Florek suggested Food Fanatics, our mega overpriced Winchcombe deli and sure enough, I obtained a small packet for an eye watering £7 (!!!).

I looked them up yesterday, thinking for £7 I can get tons of ground almonds. The first recipe that appealed to me was from a blog called Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen. I baked them an hour ago and I’m amazed how good they are. And simple too! Food Fanatics will be visited again in a couple of years time!

For 20 biscuits I used 2 egg whites, whipped well. In a bowl I had 190 g of ground almonds, 150 g of caster sugar, combined, some vanilla paste and to that I added the whipped whites plus a tbsp of Disaronno. Next time I’ll add more, can just about smell it, but certainly can’t taste any. I formed 20 little balls, rolled them in icing sugar first, then caster sugar and baked in 150 degrees for 17 minutes.

They really are lovely. Crunchy on the surface, soft inside. Good stuff!