Lemon Chicken Milanese With Sweet Tomato Caponata

This Italian breaded chicken is baked and not fried to save on fat. It’s topped with a sweet tomato topping which is bursting with flavor! 

chicken milanese the relatable chef

Lemon Chicken Milanese With Sweet Tomato Caponata

Chicken Milanese is a traditional recipe which consists of Italian breaded and pan fried meat. It uses quite a bit of oil in order to get that delicious crispy texture so for this version we will bake it in order to avoid those high levels of fat. I have also added some lemon zest and parmesan to my bread crumb mixture to add to its richness.
Now that we covered that..let's talk about caponata! Caponata is an Italian topping which is kind of like a ratatouille but it is made with eggplant, onions, tomatoes and other flavorful ingredients. It's slowly cooked until it becomes this soft delicious texture that goes delicious on many things such as meats and stews. For this recipe, I stuck to a simple caponata made of tomatoes and onions. I specifically chose sweet cherry tomatoes and added a tiny bit of sugar. It's bursting with flavor and you're going to love it!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Chicken Breast
  • 1/2 cup AP Flour
  • 2 Eggs, Whisked
  • 1 cup Bread Crumbs i like italian but panko or traditional is fine
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese best to use high quality
  • 1 Lemon
  • Italian Seasoning

Tomato Caponata

  • 1 cup Sweet Multi Color Cherry Tomatoes
  • .5 Sweet Onion
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
  • 1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400f. Let's slice your chicken in half. Place chicken breast on a cutting board and place your hand on top of the chicken and slice slowly horizontally as even as possible.
  • You can either use a Ziploc bag or plastic wrap. Place chicken in between plastic wrap or inside the bag and pound your chicken until it gets as thin as possible (about 1/4 of an inch).
  • Season your chicken with italian seasoning.
  • In 3 shallow dishes, fill one with your flour, one with your breadcrumbs and one with your whisked eggs.
  • For the dish with the breadcrumbs, we are going to zest the lemon and add it. Also add in your parmesan cheese. It's important to use high quality parmesan here.
  • Dip your chicken into the flour on both sides. Then add it into the eggs. Finally into the breadcrumbs.
  • Lightly grease a baking tray with non stick spray. Add your chicken to baking sheet. I like to give it a nice spray of non stick olive oil. Bake for 15 min.
  • Take your chicken out, hit broil on the oven, flip your chicken over and cook another 8-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Caponata

  • While your chicken is baking, let's make the caponata.
  • Dice your half onion. Warm up 1 tbsp of olive oil and add it to a non stick pan over medium low heat. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the pan along with your garlic and onions.
  • Using the back of a spoon, lightly crush your tomatoes. Add 1 tsp of sugar and your red wine vinegar and stir well. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes until its a relish like consistency.
  • Once your chicken is done cooking, squeeze lemon juice over cutlets. Spread your caponata over the chicken and some extra parmesan. Serve immediately.