Italian food, bachelor style

This holiday season I travelled to Japan to spend some time with my significant other.  It's always a challenge to cook while I'm there, for several reasons....

1) Foreign ingredients are hard to come by, and are expensive when you can find them.

2) My boyfriend has exactly two pots (one large, one small) and one frying pan.

3) No oven.

My boyfriend's kitchen...two burners, a microwave, and a broiler.

The third is probably my biggest challenge, since I love to bake and roast things.  But, as Barney Stinson would say, challenge accepted!!

Since we found ourselves in possession of some beautiful red wine, Italian seemed the way to go. But rather than go for the obvious pasta and sauce, we opted for chicken parmesan.  This is (mostly) a stovetop recipe, and only requires the chicken to be broiled for 2-3 minutes in order to toast the breadcrumbs and melt the cheese.

Required Ingredients
-boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 per person)
-1/4 cup bread crumbs
-1/4 cup grated parmesan
-1/2 tsp dried basil (or 1.5 tsp fresh)
-salt and pepper
-olive oil
-tomato sauce (about 1/4 cup per chicken breast)
-grated mozzarella cheese (1/4 cup per chicken breast)

First, lightly toast the bread crumbs in a skillet.  Transfer to a bowl and let cool; then stir in parmesan cheese and basil.  Set aside.

Then, prepare the chicken.  Cover the breasts with plastic or wax paper, and pound until they are of even thickness.  Season with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, then add chicken and cook 3-4 minutes per side (until cooked through).

Once chicken is cooked, remove it from the skillet.  Top with tomato sauce and bread crumb mixture, then broil for 1 minute (until bread crumbs are toasted).  Sprinkle with mozzarella, then return to broiler until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Then....enjoy!  Great with pasta, salad, garlic toast....or all of the above!!