CHICKEN PARMESAN BAKE

CHICKEN PARMESAN BAKE
1 1/4 pounds chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces
1 egg white
1 cup pork rind crumbs (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oil for frying
1 batch Amy's Marinara Sauce
8 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded or crumbled
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (about 1 3/4 ounces)

Put the egg white in a pie plate and beat until frothy with a fork. Put the pork rind crumbs and seasonings in another pie plate and mix together. Drop the chicken pieces into the egg white and toss with your hands until the chicken nuggets are well-coated. Dump about half of the chicken into the pork rind crumbs and toss to coat them. Remove them to a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add half of the chicken pieces. Cook until golden brown about 2 minutes per side. Remove them to a 9x7" baking dish, or similar size pan, and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour the marinara sauce evenly over the chicken. Top with the mozzarella cheese then sprinkle the parmesan cheese over everything. Bake at 350?for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

Makes 4 servings

Per Serving: 497 Calories; 23g Fat; 62g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

I came up with this recipe to use up some extra ingredients that I had on hand. I'd made an America's Test Kitchen recipe for Baked Ziti for my family and had 8 ounces of mozzarella cheese leftover as well as some parmesan cheese. The ATK recipe called for 8 ounces of whole milk mozzarella and Walmart only sells it in 16 ounce blocks. The price was great though. It was only $2.97 for a whole pound. I did have a little trouble shredding the cheese. It's so soft that it was like trying to shred a ball of Play-Doh. It didn't matter for this dish so I ended up just breaking the rest of it into bits. Click the photo to see a close-up.

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