Parmesan Chicken with Roast Garlic Tomato Mole

April 4, 2014 by Louise

I’m so excited to present this Banting recipe to you from “The Real Meal Revolution” book by Tim Noakes and Co. I bought the book because my hubby was interested in the whole low-carb and high-fat way of eating. As an ex-dietician, I was totally opposed to anything but the traditional dietary guidelines…I mean of course you need majority carbohydrates in your diet and fat is the baddy. Right?I then came to the conclusion that perhaps my nutrition knowledge that I acquired 10 years ago, was mmmm…out of date. So, to cut a long story short, I bought The Real Meal Revolution to understand a bit more about Banting (low, carb, high fat and moderate protein intake) and the research behind it before ignorantly just snubbing the idea completely. The book uncovers research that was done in the 1970’s that basically led consumers to believe that fats were bad for us and carbohydrates were good, but Noakes shows evidence contrary to that. What I love about the book is that is has so many recipes but it also contains a lot of background information on the diet as well as evidence and studies. It is well written, easy to understand and the recipes are amazing!

I bought my book off Kalahari.com here , it’s well worth the price folks, it is a chunky book full of goodness!! This recipe is chicken breasts in a parmesan crumb, fried and then topped with the most amazing tomato sauce or mole, as they have called it – which is a really a generic name for “sauce” in many Mexican dishes, although there are no chillies in this version.

Source: The Real Meal Revolution, published by Quivertree Publications

Parmesan Chicken with Roast Garlic Tomato Mole

Author: Louise
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 2 servings 1x

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Description

This recipe is chicken breasts in a parmesan crumb, fried and then topped with the most amazing tomato sauce or mole, as they have called it â€“ which is a really a generic name for â€œsauceâ€ in many Mexican dishes, although there are no chillies in this version.

Ingredients

For the Chicken

2 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup Parmesan finely grated
1/4 cup almond flour
1 egg, beaten
100g butter
salt and pepper

For the mole

1 head garlic
60g butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tin whole peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 handful fresh origanum, roughly chopped
salt and pepper

Instructions

For the Chicken

Mix the Parmesan, almond flour and salt and pepper together.
Dunk the breasts in the egg, then into the Parmesan flour, making sure the coating is nice and thick.
In a heavy-based frying pan, melt the butter on a medium heat and grill the chicken breasts until golden brown. If they are not cooked through, you can finish them off in the oven (this helps prevent the crumbs from burning). They shouldn’t cook for longer than 10 minutes in total.

For the mole

Preheat the oven to 180Â°C.
Cut the top off the garlic and press half the butter into the meat of it. Wrap it in tinfoil and cook upright in the oven for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, fry the onion in the rest of the butter in a small pot on a low heat. Once it’s golden brown, add the tinned tomatoes and smoked paprika. Cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes. If it goes too dry, add a drop or two of water.
Remove the garlic from the oven and squeeze the flesh straight into the sauce. Add the origanum and heat for a minute or two.
Using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes and garlic together to form a thick, chunky, smoky tomato sauce.
Season with salt and pepper and serve with the chicken.

Notes

You could add a squeeze of lemon to the sauce if it lacks acidity. If you have made the sauce in advance you could spread it in a small oven dish and actually finish the chicken off in the oven, on top of the sauce. Remember this recipe only serves 2, so if you’re making it for the whole family, remember to adjust your quantities.