One Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta

4-servings

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (approx 6 - 7 oz each)
salt and pepper
dried oregano
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 tsp water
1 cup Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
24 oz jar of marinara or 3 cups of homemade (you can find the Rootitoot recipe in Volume 2 page 70)
8 oz hearty pasta like penne or ziti (something with a min cook time of 9 - 11 minutes)
2 cups chicken broth
6 - 8 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
fresh basil for garnish

Directions:

Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally to make 2 flat, full-sized pieces. Season each side with salt, pepper and oregano then set aside. Now prepare 3 shallow dishes to dredge your chicken in. In the first dish, mix the flour and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. In the second dish, beat the egg and water. In the third dish; mix your bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Now make an assembly line and coat each slice of chicken in that order; flour, egg then breadcrumbs and return to the plate.

Press Saute on the Instant Pot then press start if your pot requires and wait until the display reads HOT. Now add the olive oil and butter to your hot pot (this prevents the food from sticking so be patient). Swirl the oil and butter to coat the bottom and place two pieces of the chicken in the pot to brown, you don’t want to overcrowd the pot so do this in two batches. Allow the chicken to cook 2 -3 minutes on each side, you’re not looking to cook it completely, just to brown the outside, remove to a plate and repeat with the last two pieces.

Deglaze the bottom by adding the chicken broth and scraping up all the browned bits. Dump the pasta into the broth and make sure it’s in an even layer. Pour 1 cup of the marinara (1/3 of the jar) on top of the pasta but do not stir, then place the breaded chicken in a single layer on top of the pasta. Now pour the rest of the marinara on top of the chicken. Press Cancel then close and lock the lid making sure the valve is set to Sealing.

Press Pressure Cook or Manual and adjust the cook time to 6 minutes, press start if necessary. When the cooking time is finished, allow a 5 minute natural release then flip the valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure. When the pin drops, open the lid and add the mozzarella cheese in an even layer on top, close the lid for 2 - 3 minutes to allow the cheese to melt, alternatively you could switch out to the air fryer lid and melt the cheese at 350F for 2 - 3 minutes.

Garnish each plate with fresh chopped basil and serve with a side salad and garlic bread.