Lunch
Chicken Parmesan Grilled Cheese
Food creator and dad of two, Vincenzo gives his spin on a grilled cheese by stuffing crispy cutlets, vodka sauce, and pesto into a garlic butter sourdough loaded with Tillamook Farmstyle Sharp Cheddar Shredded Cheese and Tillamook Farmstyle Part-Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese. Serve it with extra vodka sauce for dipping, because if you’re already making this, you might as well fully commit.
1HR 5MINserves 4
Ingredients
Sandwiches
8 thick slices sourdough
12 oz Tillamook Farmstyle Part-Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese
Vodka sauce (recipe below)
4 crispy chicken cutlets (recipe below)
Grated parmesan and chop
Chicken Cutlets:
2 chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise and pounded
1 tsp salt
1⁄2tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1⁄2tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
Breading:
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1⁄2tsp pepper
2 large eggs, beaten — add a splash of milk to loosen
1.5 cups Italian breadcrumbs — I use Progresso
1⁄4cup grated Parmesan
2 tbsp fresh or dried parsley (optional)
Vodka Sauce:
6 tbsp Tillamook Extra Creamy Unsalted Butter (divided)
2 small shallots, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (6 oz) tomato pasta
2–3 tbsp vodka
1–1.5 cups heavy cream
1⁄3cup grated Parmesan
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chicken:
Butterfly the 2 chicken breasts into 4 thin cutlets. Pound each one to even thickness and season both sides with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp oregano.
Set up three bowls: 1 cup flour in the first, 3 beaten eggs in the second, and 1½ cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, ½ cup parmesan, and
2 tbsp chopped parsley in the third. Mix the breadcrumb bowl together.Coat each cutlet in flour, then egg, then the breadcrumb mixture, pressing the breading on so it actually sticks.
Heat about ½ inch of neutral oil in a large skillet to 350°F. Fry the cutlets for 3–4 minutes per side, until deeply golden and the center hits 165°F.— Note: Work in batches. Crowding the pan drops the oil temp and the breading gets greasy instead of crispy.
Move the cutlets to a wire rack and set aside.
Vodka Sauce:
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the 2 diced shallots and cook for 3–4 minutes until softened.
Add the 4 cloves minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the full 6 oz can of tomato paste and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring frequently, until it darkens to a deeper red.
Pour in ¼ cup vodka, deglaze the pan really scraping all of the brown bits up and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Lower the heat and stir in 1½ cups heavy cream. Bring that up to a bubble and let it thicken for a couple minutes.
Then turn the heat to low and mix in ½–1 cup parmesan one handful at a time until its fully melted. Finish by melting in 2 tbsp of cold butter to make it extra glossy, if you want. Note: This should be thicker than a normal pasta sauce so it stays inside the sandwich. SAVE around half of it for dipping.
Garlic Butter:
Mix 1 stick softened butter with 8 cloves grated garlic, ¼ cup parmesan, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt.
Build:
Pre-toast all of your bread on ONE side if you want it to stay crispy.
Spread about 1 tbsp garlic butter on UNTOASTED side of each of the 8 slices of sourdough. The buttered sides face OUT.
On the unbuttered side of 4 slices, layer: bottom slice → cheddar/Mozzarella → chicken cutlet → vodka sauce → more mozzarella → pesto → top slice Note: Don’t go too crazy with the sauce inside. A few spoonfuls is plenty. The rest is for dipping.
Cook:
Heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Add as many sandwiches as you can without overcrowding and cook for 6-8 minutes, until the bottom is golden and crispy.
Flip, cover the skillet, and cook for another 5-8 minutes, until the second side is golden and the cheese is completely melted. Remove the sandwiches.
Cheese Skirt (optional)
Sprinkle about 1 oz (a generous ¼ cup) of the reserved cheddar directly into the skillet, in a spot slightly bigger than the sandwich.
Let it melt and bubble. Once the bottom starts turning golden but the top is still melted, put the grilled cheese right on top.
Cook for another 30–60 seconds, until the cheddar is golden and crispy underneath. Use a thin spatula to lift the sandwich out with the skirt attached.
Serve:
Top with a little parmesan and parsley if you want, and serve with a bowl of warm vodka sauce for dipping. And yes, the extra dipping sauce is absolutely necessary.
Cenzo’s Tips
Pound the chicken thin and even. Thin cutlets cook fast and actually fit in a sandwich.
Fry in batches. Crowding the pan drops the oil temp and the breading comes out greasy instead of crispy.
The sauce will be thicker than you think. Thin sauce makes the bread soggy and leaks out the sides.
Go easy on the sauce inside. A few spoonfuls is plenty. Everything else goes in the dipping bowl.
Cheese on both sides of the chicken. It works like glue and holds everything together when you slice it. It’s also more cheese, which has never once been a problem.
Low heat and a lid. The sourdough is done way before the cheese is. Keep it at medium-low and cover the pan after you flip so the inside melts before the garlic butter burns.
Use the leftover vodka sauce if you have it. Boil some rigatoni tomorrow and that’s another dinner done
Shop this recipe
Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Thick Cut
Tillamook Extra Creamy Unsalted Butter
