Sunday Lunch...A Modo Mio

   

The typical fare at our Sunday family lunch starts with my mother-in-law's pasta al forno, or baked pasta; then we move on to the main course of carne impanata, or breaded pan-fried beef or chicken cutlets, a green salad accompanied by slices of more bread and some kind of dessert that usually involves ricotta cheese and even more flour (ricotta cake or cannoli). It's a lunch that lasts the entire day, from around 1pm, with the first course, passing to the main course, then the fruit course, then dessert and then caffè, lasting well until 6 pm or so. It is all delicious and it's nice to spend time together, but we always wind up going home uncomfortably stuffed and we don't want to even see more food again. Thankfully I have no problem with wheat, but my poor husband does not do so well with this Italian diet based on refined wheat. At home, we are not gluten-free, but I make sure to use a minimum amount of wheat--we almost never eat bread and we only eat pasta occasionally--something that worries my mother-in-law because, after all, pasta is the cornerstone of a proper diet. But nevertheless, my husband does well during the week and gets all out of whack after our wheat-ridden Sunday lunches (which he loves--nothin' better than mamma's cooking). This Sunday, though, we opted out of this weekly ritual for a simple Sunday together. But lunch still had to be had...

I have recently been considering trying to make carne impanata with corn flakes instead of bread crumbs, thinking it would be bread-free and crunchier (my husband was not convinced of this). So this leads me to my recent inspiration from Elana Amsterdam and her fantastic blog, Elana's Pantry. The other night, I read her recipe for Carrot French Fries and her gluten-free Easy Chicken Parm. Inspiration: making carne impanata with almond flour!! What an ingenious idea! Plus, I am crazy about vegetables (as we should all be because they keep us healthy and they are delicious!) so I was thrilled with the idea of trying carrots in a new way. With a fresh basket of carrots and two remaining chicken breasts in the fridge, I couldn't wait to give these a try--with my own spin, of course!

  

I started out with the carrots, which here in Liguria are absolutely delicious! They are grown in a nearby natural park in Tuscany and may be the sweetest carrots I have ever tasted.

I peeled and cut them into thin sticks and tossed them with Extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of Herbs of Provence and because these carrots are so sweet, I added about a 1/2 tsp. of smokey paprika and a dash of cayenne pepper. I baked them in a 450°/220° oven for about 20 minutes.

Now for my carne impanata experiment: I prepared everything as if I was making the classic Italian version. A small fist of Italian parsley, a couple small cloves of garlic and a spoonful of parmigiano cheese into a food processor.

Then, instead of fresh bread pieces, I added 3/4 cup of almond meal/flour and I also threw in a handful of cornflakes (cornflakes are optional, of course). Process until well blended together. 

Set up a plate of a beaten egg and a plate with the 'breadcrumbs'. Dip your chicken (or beef scallopine) into the egg, then onto the 'breadcrumbs' and coat well on each side.

Place into a hot frypan with a small amount of sunflower oil and fry at medium heat until cooked, flipping over once. For chicken, I like to cover the pan to keep the heat in since it takes longer to cook than beef. Be careful of having a pan that is too hot, because you can wind up burning the 'breadcrumbs'.

I pulled the carrots out of the oven, which in the end, took bit longer to cook and never turned crispy because I have a totally crap oven. But, the flavor was devine and the little bit of spice was fantastic. With a proper convection oven to make them crisp up, these could be absolutely addictive!

When the chicken was done, I was able to serve it directly onto the plate because it wasn't soaked in oil, as it usually is with real breadcrumbs. It had a lovely golden brown, crunchy shell that covered a juicy chicken breast. Served together with the carrot 'fries' and a fresh green salad with a balsamic vinaigrette (I love carne impanata together with salad and lots of balsamic vinegar), it made a lovely light and gluten-free lunch!

Thank you Elana Amsterdam for inspiring me to substitute almond flour for breadcrumbs!

Buon appetito!