Chicken Caprese Sandwich
Last week, the butcher only had really small chicken breasts. Instead of buying extra I just stuck with two and figured I’d just make quesadillas or something with them. If you couldn’t tell from my most recent posts, we’ve been eating a lot of Mexican lately. I had some beautiful Indiana grown tomatoes from the farmer’s market that needed to be used as well as some fresh mozzarella in the fridge, so I thought I’d try something new and came up with this sandwich. It’s by no means a novel idea, but it was sooo good and I was quite proud of this. The chicken breasts, which were about a quarter pound each, ended up being the perfect size. And to be quite honest, this would be just as good without the bun.
Total Steps
8
Ingredients
12
Tools Needed
5
Ingredients
- 2 pieces small chicken breasts (approx. 1/4 lb each), pounded very thin (1/4 inch) and cut half crosswise
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup your choice grated Italian cheese (recommended Asiago)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 slices thin slices ripe tomato
- 2 slices fresh mozzarella (approx. 2.25 inch diameter)
- 6 leaves basil
- 2 pieces sandwich buns
Instructions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2
Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Step 3
Combine breadcrumbs and cheese in a shallow dish.
Step 4
Heat olive oil in a large oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. (Alternatively, if an oven-proof pan is not available, use a rimmed baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray).
Step 5
Dip each chicken piece in the lightly beaten egg, allowing any excess to drip off. Then dredge the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture, ensuring it's fully coated.
Step 6
Place the breaded chicken in the hot pan and quickly brown both sides (approximately 2 minutes per side).
Step 7
Place one slice of mozzarella cheese on each of the two pieces of chicken. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake until the cheese just begins to melt (3-5 minutes). Carefully remove the pan from the oven, as the handle will be hot.
Step 8
To assemble the sandwiches, stack two pieces of chicken (one with mozzarella cheese) on each sandwich bun. Top each with 2 slices of tomato and 3 basil leaves.