Lightened Up Chicken Parmesan

Method

1. Create a little assembly line with three medium, shallow containers (I just use my little lunch tupperware containers for ease). Add the flour and half of the salt and pepper to the first container. Stir to combine. To the second, add the 2 eggs and beat until yolks and whites are combined. To the third, add the Panko breadcrumbs and the remaining salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
2. Working with one tenderloin at a time, dredge in flour. Shake off excess flour for a light coating. Go directly into the beaten egg. I like to use a fork for this part so my hands don’t go from wet to dry to wet and I end up with massive claw looking crumb hands! Completely coat the piece of chicken with egg, let the excess egg mixture drip off, and move into the breadcrumbs. Lightly coat the chicken with the breadcrumbs and set aside. Repeat this process of flour, egg, breadcrumbs for all of the chicken tenderloin pieces.
3. Heat a large nonstick pan with 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Once heated, add the prepared chicken tenderloins to the pan. Make sure not to overcrowd so that they can brown and crisp properly (I do mine in two batches). Cook the tenderloins 2-3 minutes each side, turning once until light to medium browning on each side and slightly firm to the touch. Remove from the pan and set aside on a sheet pan. If doing a second batch, add more oil if needed and repeat the cooking until all the chicken tenderloins are cooked.
4. While the chicken cooks, pour the marinara sauce in a medium pot. Heat on medium-low until heated through.
5. Turn the oven to broil. Top each of the chicken pieces with a little mozzarella (I break up the slices to fit on each piece). Take the sheet pan filled with the mozzarella topped chicken pieces (that’s a mouthful) and stick it on the top shelf of the oven to broil. Broil 2-3 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on it while it broils. It goes from deliciously browned to burning pretty quickly. Remove when the cheese is slightly browned and melted.
6. Top the cheesy, crispy chicken with the heated marinara sauce just before serving.
7. Sprinkle red pepper flakes and fresh herbs over the top if using and dig in!