Lunch / Dinner
Fennel-Crusted Chicken Cutlets
Italian cuisine is known for its simplicity. With just a few flavorful ingredients that are of good quality, great food is within reach.
This Fennel-Crusted Chicken Cutlets menu is the epitome of this way of thinking, and just a few bites will prove it. On the menu is breaded chicken cutlets, a crisp Escarole Salad with Pecorino Romano, and garlicky Zucchini Noodles with roasted tomato sauce, plus a refreshing Negroni Granita.
Get ready for a meal that’s so delicious and just as easy as Sunday morning. Without all the rushing around you’ll not only enjoy eating the food, you’ll also enjoy preparing it.
Ingredients
ADD:
POUND:
Make-Ahead Instructions
To get the whole meal on the table without stressing, break it down.
Since the granita takes the longest, make it first — it takes eight hours to freeze, but is best when left to freeze overnight.
Tackle the chicken next. Halve the breasts horizontally, then pound them. That way the cutlets will cook through on the stovetop.
Breading the cutlets is where the flavor comes in. Coat them in panko mixed with lemon zest and fennel seed, for sweet anise-like flavor, then refrigerate up to three hours before frying.
Meanwhile, roast and purée the tomato sauce, spiralize the zucchini into “noodles”, and cut the escarole for the salad. With everything falling into place, pour yourself a glass of wine and get ready for the tastiest Sunday dinner on the record books.
Instructions
Add flour to one shallow dish, eggs to a second dish, and combine bread crumbs, parsley, zest, and fennel seeds in a third dish.
Pound cutlets between plastic wrap to ¼–½-inch thick, then season with salt and pepper.
Dredge cutlets first in flour, tapping off excess, then in egg, letting excess drip off, then in the panko mixture, pressing to adhere. Place breaded cutlets on a baking sheet and chill while preparing remaining menu, or up to 3 hours.
Fry two cutlets in ¼ cup oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 7 minutes total. Tranfer cutlets to a plate and loosely tent with foil. Add remaining ¼ cup oil to skillet and fry remaining cutlets.
To release flavor from the fennel seeds, press the blade of a large chef’s knife to crack them.
Halve chicken breasts horizontally so they’re thinner, making pounding them much easier.
Pounding the cutlets to no more than ½-inch thick ensures they’ll cook through on the stove top.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per serving
Calories: 430
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 26g 40%
Saturated Fat 4g 20%
Cholesterol 137mg 45%
Sodium 204mg 8%
Carbs 14g 4%
Fiber 1g 4%
Protein 34g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.