Bruschetta Chicken

I've wanted to try a Bruschetta Chicken recipe for a while after seeing some pictures of a baked version, but usually don't have croutons on hand.  Fortunately I recently discovered the grocery store Aldi and since
everything there is ridiculously cheap, I grabbed a bag.  We were having a friend over a few days ago and I wanted to cook up something new for dinner, so suddenly the timing was right.

 I looked at a few recipes, but ultimately decided on a Hunt's recipe since it required canned tomatoes and used a skillet.  I am always a fan of one-pan dishes!


To start the tomato topping, I combined a can of crushed tomatoes, Parmesan cheese (I used a kind that has some Italian seasoning mixed right in), basil, and parsley together in a medium bowl.

Next, I added the tomato paste, water, and seasonings to the skillet and heated it to medium. Then, I added the pieces of chicken, covering them in the tomato and Parmesan mixture, pressing it into the chicken breasts.

I let the chicken simmer in the sauce for 15 minutes, until it was cooked throughout.  I boiled some fettuccine noodles in the meantime to serve alongside it.

Once it was ready, I set the chicken over the pasta and topped it off with croutons for the final dish.

I never would have thought croutons would make such an excellent topping, but they were excellent!  It added the perfect bit of texture to the dish.  The sauce was even more flavorful than I expected also; part of me thought it would turn out bland, but I was really impressed. I actually ended up making this same dish again for my family shortly after cooking the version shared below (before I got a chance to get this recipe up!), and instead used tomato sauce.  I learned right away that the tomato paste works out much better and gives a better flavor; though the sauce wasn't necessarily bad, it was thinner and I just felt the paste had a better taste.  Now the chicken itself was flat out awesome and the combination of chicken and croutons created the perfect crispy breading.  I am in love with this recipe and it is definitely one of the best ones I've made recently!

Bruschetta Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes (15 ounces)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon parsley
1 can tomato paste
1/3 cup water
1 cup croutons, crushed

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, combine drained tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, basil, and parsley. Add tomato paste and water to skillet and heat to medium. Cover chicken breasts in tomato and cheese mixture, pressing it into the chicken, then add to skillet. Simmer for 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked throughout. Serve with pasta and top with crushed croutons.