Usually when I see chicken parmigiana at a restaurant I suddenly feel like I’m at a diner or pizza shop. My cousin, lets call him Nek to protect his identity, is obsessed with chicken parm. Any restaurant we went to, that was the only thing Nek would order. It drove me nuts. He grew up in the south, so I always attributed his lack of sophistication to his geography. I know, I’m an asshole.

Years later, he moved to New York and opened two amazing restaurants and neither of them serve chicken parm, it’s also something I vowed to never make for him.

A few years ago, he called me up to tell me about this girl he was dating and he wanted me and my sister to meet her. I was so excited! Who could this mystery girl be? He asked if I could make him chicken parm and I was so happy he wanted to introduce his new friend to us, I agreed. Oh, lets call her Lav to respect her privacy.

So they came over, we ate, drank and my sister and I told funny and embarrassing stories about Nek. Lav thought we were hilarious and loved the chicken parm so much that she agreed to marry Nek a few years later. Have you ever had a friend, and for some reason they have the coolest friends, so you hang out with your annoying friend just to see their friends and you’re constantly wondering why the hell are they friends with this person? Well, I’d like to think that this is the same situation here. It’s not, they’re pretty awesome and both love me. It has now become tradition that once a year we all get together, eat chicken parm, and share stories about how great I am.

This is for one package of thin chicken breasts – about 4 pieces; it will feed about 3 people.