This is a delightful way to prepare chicken, especially if you have fresh ingredients. If you can't find chicken tenders (fingers) cut ordinary chicken breasts in half lengthways.
I submitted this recipe, and after reading one review about being poorly written, I must agree. I do start the sauce first and let it simmer while I am frying the chicken tenderloins. This allows it to all finish at the same time, and can go into the oven for the final melting of the cheese. You may of course, spice it up with other herbs in the sauce, but I really enjoy the flavor of fresh basil, and keeping it simple. Hope this helps! PMJNSTN - 20 Oct 2010 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
Made this for the Recipe Group and we enjoyed it. I do, however, think the recipe is poorly written and sort of backwards. Here’s the way I did it. I breaded my chicken ahead of time and didn’t use nearly the amount of flour indicated in the recipe, covered and refrigerated it until dinner time. I made the sauce before I cooked the chicken, and as I suspected, the tomatoes really cook down to almost nothing. I had to add some Prego to “stretch” it a bit. I didn’t add the basil until just before serving so it’s flavor wouldn’t diminish. I kept the sauce warm while I cooked the chicken. After the chicken was cooked I left it in the skillet, topped each with the mozzarella and covered it with a lid just until the cheese was nicely melted. I skipped the oven part altogether. This was good. We thought the chicken/panko could be improved with some additional spices, maybe some Italian seasoning, and the addition of some parmesan cheese might have been good. The sauce needs some work. We thought my addition of Prego actually improved it. - 10 Oct 2010 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
We had this tonight for dinner and even have leftovers for a sandwich tomorrow. We felt this could have used a little more in the flavor department--like adding some herbs to the sauce mixture. It probably could have used only one tablespoon of oil for the sauce because the onions give off liquid. And it could have used something to hold all the sauce together more (maybe some Italian bread crumbs?). Mine did not look like the photos. I think if I were to make it again I would not bread the chicken at all. All those ingredients (flour and panko) kind of rejected the flavors of the sauce and didn't let it show off what could have been! This has possibililties, so I will try it again. - 10 Oct 2010 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)