Chicken alla Milanese

I love fried chicken and used to be quite partial to a late night drunken visit to my local fried chicken establishment. Sadly those days are gone and I now spend my evenings sober and managing the zombie like night feeds of our little baby boy. Although this recipe is not of the 'Southern Fried' variety, it does still tick the crispy fried chicken boxes. If I have a few cold beers as well maybe it will feel like the old days........who am I kidding! For two:

Ingredients:

Free range chicken breasts - 2

Eggs - 2, beaten

Dry white breadcrumbs - enough to bread the chicken, maybe 250g

Plain Flour - 100g

Spaghetti - 120g

Chopped tomatoes - 1 tin

Garlic - 3 cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

Olive oil (not extra virgin) - 100ml

Basil - 1 small bunch, leaves torn up
A good pinch of red chilli flakes

Red wine vinegar - a splash

Caster sugar - 1 tsp

Parmesan, grated

Method:

Lay 50cm of cling film on a work top. Place the chicken breast in the middle of one half. Fold the cling film over the chicken and beat with a rolling pin to evenly flatten the chicken breast. Repeat for the other chicken breast and set aside. Season and dip each beaten chicken breast in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs - set aside.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a sauté pan and gently fry the garlic until just golden. Toss in the tomatoes, chilli, vinegar, sugar and season well with salt and pepper. Gently simmer until the sauce begins to thicken then set aside.

Boil some water for the pasta and cook to al dente - approx 9 mins but check the packet instructions. While the pasta is cooking, heat a non-stick frying pan with the remaining oil and gently fry the chicken breasts over a medium heat until golden and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.

Toss the cooked pasta through the sauce with the torn basil. Correct the seasoning and plate. Top with the breaded chicken and generously grate over some parmesan. You will notice I have no parmesan in my photo above. I would like to say that my aim was not to hide the pasta.....but  actually I forgot to buy any!